A life of Mr. Yukichi Fukuzawa

THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA

LOS ANGELES

Mr. Fukuzawa in 1893.

'j jD9q?.95Mb2 brus aDnsbnaqabnl .(0

lav ion ,>fnirfJ av/ }KrH Ih; ^^ ionnjrj aW .(L)

iu. t< ' KOq 3JJ11 "' : ' . ' . '/.- > '> Li I
UK moil ninifiiedji

(i). Independence and Self-Respect constitute
Morality.

(2). We cannot say all that we think, nor yet

Do all we say : therefore true peace of mind
Lies in abstaining from all thought.

r'ac-simile of Scrolls written by Mr. Fukuzawa.
[Translations preceding page.]

A LIFE
MR. YUKICHI FUKUZAWA

BY

ASATARO MIYAMORI

OF KEIO GIJUKU.

REVISED

BY
E. H. VICKERS,

Professor of Political Economy in Keio Gijuku.

WITH AN INTRODUCTION

BY
PROF. KADONO.

Z. P. MARUYA & CO., LTD.

(MARUZEN KABUSH1K1 KA1SHA. )
TOKYO & OSAKA.

I9O2.

T>S

88 "4

NOTE.

The materials for this book have been drawn
from Mr. Fukuzawa's " Autobiography," his " Com-
plete Works," and the Aitoroku or " In Memo-
riam of Mr. Fukuzavva " ; and some passages have
been borrowed from Dr. Murray's " Japan."

The chapter on the Keio Gijuku may seem
somewhat too long ; but I beg the reader to
remember that the history of the institution abounds
in instructive incidents, and the character and
principles of its venerable founder are shown with
advantage in this chapter.

I am much indebted for some valuable sugges-
tions to Mr. R. Kitagawa, editor of the Jiji Shimf>6 ;
and I have also to thank Prof. Dening for cour-
tesies extended by him.

A. MIYAMOKI.
Tokyo, January, 1902.

1927857 .

CONTENTS.

Chapter. Page

Reviser's Note i

Introduction by Prof. K \DONO v

I. Introduction i

II. Parentage and Boyhood 5

III. Studies at Nagasaki 12

IV. Studies at Osaka 15

V. Difficulties of Learning English 24

VI. First Visit to the United States 29

VII. The Foreign Policy of the Tokugawa Government ... 36

VIII. Visit to Europe 43

IX. The Namamugi Affair 48

X. Second Visit to the United States 53

XI. The Meiji Restoration 56

XII. The Keio Gijuku 69

XIII. Mr. Fukuzawa as a Writer 86

XIV. Mr. Fuku/awa as a Journalist 107

XV. Later Years 118

XVI. Mr. Fukuzawa's Code of Morals 127

XVII. Death 134

XVIII. Personal Appearance, Habits, and Conduct 140

Appendix A. Mr. Fukuzawa and his Views. By Prof. Dening ... 151

Appendix B. The Mita System of Ethics and its Detractors.

ISy Prof. Dening 173

REVISER'S NOTE.

Mr. Fukuzavva was one of the most remarkable
Japanese of the present era. His influence unlike
that of statesmen, soldiers or scientists was not
direct, visible and measurable. His work as author,
journalist and educator was to enlighten and train
the minds, to ennoble and strengthen the character
of his countrymen. Operating thus on intelligence
and motive, he rendered preeminent service in fixing
deep and firm the foundations of the present Japanese
state and society. This work beneath the surface
may escape notice, or its importance is likely to be
underestimated. Foreigners especially may question
the merits or the greatness of the man. Some may
search his works in vain for philosophic or scientific
expositions to rival those of occidental masters.
Others may regret the absence of Christian dogma,
or may still more broadly object to the foundations
of his morality. They forget that such doubts rest
on standards of judgment which are radically false
and unjust. LThe works of Mr. Fukuzawa can be
justly compared only with those of his contemporary

countrymen. They can be correctly judged only in
the light of the peculiar environment in which they
were produced and by which the whole life of the
author was conditioned, incomparably more rigidly
than was the life of any Western writer by his
national environment. Mr. Miyamori's essay amply
proves this a fact of sufficient importance alone to
justify its publication. When viewed in this light
the marvel is that Mr. Fukuzawa could accept, still
more could teach the superiority of Western civiliza-
tion that his ethical code was so noble and broad
in conception and so nearly in accord with the
precepts of a religion whose dogmas he did not accept
and against whose creed most influences of environ-
ment were of a nature powerfully to prejudice him !
The wonder should rather be that men who recognise
the necessity of studying plants and animals with
exclusive reference to their environment should fail to
see the equally obvious necessity of judging the
product of an exclusive and long isolated civilization
with at least partial reference to the conditioning
environment.

An appreciation of the peculiar work accom-
plished by Mr. Fukuzawa is essential to a correct
estimate of the influences which transformed Me-

diaeval into Modern Japan. Those who seek a
knowledge of the country, but who cannot read
Japanese, will therefore doubtless welcome the
present essay. The hope that its publication
might make some otherwise inaccessible material
available to them, that it might also, while assist-
ing to place an illustrious man in clearer light,
illustrate the power of individual intelligence and
character in social evolution, this hope induced
me to undertake the revision of the manuscript. In
making corrections, the aim has been to make the
fewest changes that were consistent with clearness.
The original form, arrangement, construction and
wording have therefore been as far as practicable
preserved. It is my sincere wish that a large circle
of readers may find in the perusal of this essay as
much interest and profit as I have.

E. H. VICKERS.

INTRODUCTION

BY

PROF. KADONO,
Dean of Keio Gijuku.

Though the fact that our country could have
come out of the most critical stage of our national
existence with such signal success can not be due to
the acts of any one or a few individuals, yet if there
is one man who has contributed more than any other
toward the end, I venture to say, Fukuzawa Yukichi
is that one. This is by no means the vain boast of
those connected with him, but the opinion endorsed
by numerous impartial observers in the country.
However this may be, it is an incontestable fact that
his personal influence was as great as it can be in the
case of any person in private position ; so great that
he was popularly called " the Great Commoner of
Mita."

Indeed it is impossible to find a parallel to the
life of Mr. Fukuzawa in modern societies of Europe
or America. He is often spoken of as an Arnold or

a Carlyle of Japan. The comparison gives no just
idea ; he exercised a far greater influence than the
designations "scholar" or " writer " would suggest.
If we try to find his parallel in European history,
the religious reformers in the period of Reformation
are the nearest types. But this is only true in
respect of the wide influence they exerted over the
society of their time ; for his reformation was not
confined to the sphere of religion, but covered every
field of social activities. He was not a politician,
yet he was fond of political discussion. Not only
many enlightened politicians came out of his school,
but also those actually in power in the government
were often benefited by his advice and admonitions.
At the same time, he was educating the people by
his copious writings in books and newspapers and
thus preparing the way for those enlightened politi-
cians. The same was the case in matters of religion
and business. He was not a man of religion, yet he
knew the need of a sound religion ; nor was he a
man of business, yet he upheld the modern impor-
tance of trade ; and it was not seldom that religious
and business classes were benefited by his advice
which' he was always ready to give them. The
great master used to say : " Among the crowd of

spectators at a play, there is but one person who can
feel the greatest possible pleasure in the sight ; I
mean the 'author of the play." He wanted to be
one. He preferred the part of an author to that of
an actor and it was well for the country that he
made this choice. His versatile genius, his power of
conversation, his lucid style of writing, in short
almost every quality of his remarkable character
fitted him for the unique part he was destined to fill
in our society. We know he succeeded in a great
measure in being at once the author and spectator
of one of the most wonderful dramas ever played on
the stage of History.

Mr. Miyamori is a graduate of Keio Gijuku and
is actually a teacher of English in that school
Such a connection with the subject of his writing,
though it may not be favorable to the fairness of his
judgment, has the advantage of intimate knowledge
and saves him from the superficiality of an outsider.
Moreover there is Mr. Fukuzawa's story of his own
life, which, I believe, was the chief source of Mr.
Miyamori's materials. In his Autobiography, Mr.
Fukuzawa speaks of his faults as well as his merits
with a candidness truly remarkable. This can only
be expected from a man who was convinced that,

with all his faults candidly revealed, he was yet a
superior man and rendered a great service to his
country. The world is prone to appreciate only the
deeds of politicians and warriors. It is not to be
wondered at that a man whose actions and teachings
were chiefly behind the curtain, should remain com-
paratively unnoticed in the outside world. Mr.
Miyamori's object in writing this little book was
perhaps to do something toward ensuring for his
great master the due notice of those foreigners in-
terested in our recent eventful history, and I am sure
that the book will prove a useful contribution to the
English historical literature.

I. KADONO,

Keio Gijuku.

A LIFE

OF

Mr. YUKICHI FUKUZAWA.

" A king can mak' a belted knight,

A marquis, duke, and a' that :
But an honest man's aboon his might,

Guid faith, he mauna fa' that !

For a' that, and a' that,

Their dignities, and a' that.

The pith o' sense, and pride o' worth

Are higher ranks than a' that.'

CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION.

AMONG the great names in the history of the
present Japanese civilization there is none more
deserving of notice than that of the late Mr. Yukichi
Fuk'uzawa, the " Sage of Mita." It is undeniable
that during the last forty years of marvellous change
and progress, he most ably guided his countrymen.

2 .1 Ul<r. Ol< Mr. YL'h'lClIl /CKiy.lir.l. CHAP.

In 1858, the Tokugawa government concluded
treaties with Western powers and the doors of Japan
were opened to foreign intercourse. But this was
done under the pressure of the powers, and the
actual opening of Japan was effected only after
many long years of struggle : for behind her doors
there still remained a strong wall of anti-foreign
prejudice. For more than two centuries, the Japa-
nese had lived in quiet seclusion from the outside
world. Hence they were in utter ignorance of
affairs in foreign countries, while their minds were
tilled with the antiquated principles of Chinese
learning. They looked down on foreigners as
barbarians and considered foreign trade as injurious
to national interests. Even the educated classes
shared these prejudices. Under the circumstances,
it was no wonder that the new foreign policy of the
government provoked most bitter attacks from
misguided patriots. Then followed a succession of
assassinations both of foreigners and of native
scholars of progressive ideas ; and the anti-foreign
sentiment at last culminated in a long period of
anarchy and civil war. During this period, the
Meiji Revolution was effected. While most patriots
were thus busy with politics and war and the whole

I INTRODUCTION 3

nation was possessed by excitement, Mr. Fukuzawa
saw the vital necessity of breaking down the wall of
prejudice and of introducing Western civilization.
Voluntarily he assumed the thankless task of aiding
in this great work ; and steadily, persistently, in the
face of opposition and personal peril, he played in his
unique way a most unselfish and important role.

As the author of " Things Western" and many
other works, as the founder of the Keio Gijuku, then
the only institution in Japan where Western learning
might be acquired, Mr. Fukuzawa performed inesti-
mable services in opening the eyes of his countrymen.
It is indeed no exaggeration to say that, but for his
efforts and for those of his o-workers, Japan might
have met with the same fate as the present China.
Furthermore, as a social reformer, as a political
mentor, as the founder and editor-in-chief of the
Jiji Sliiiiipd, as a champion of women's rights, as a
promoter, of commerce and industries, and as the
author of the so-called " Mr. Fukuxawa's Code of
Morals," he contributed much more than any other
man to the building up of the " New Japan." He
was not a statesman, lie never held office under the
Imperial Government. He was never a legislator,
nor was he a leader of armies. He was always an

4 A LIFE OF Mr. YUiUCm FUKUZAWA. CH.M-.

untitled subject and a private citizen, living and
doing his work chiefly with the pen and apart from
the crowd. Yet nobody has influenced the life and
thought of his countrymen more deeply and more
extensively than the " Great Commoner." Those
who have lived in the present era, whether young or
old, high or low, are more or less intellectual debtors
to him. Kven those of our countrymen who differ
in views from him have received from him a great
stimulus. There is no town or village throughout
the Empire where his good influence is not felt. Dr.
Griffis is quite right in calling him the "intellectual
father of half the youth of Japan."

It is true that there have been many other
scholars who have made efforts for the introduction
of Western civili/.ation into Japan. But most of
them influenced only the educated classes. Some of
them were led astray in their efforts by conservative
principles, by a sort of " Japanism " if thp term is
permissible ; and others have devoted their energies
chiefly to the promotion of the interests of the upper
classes. Mr. Fukuzawa aimed at thoroughly West-
ernizing the people at large, and never for a moment
in his life did he swerve from his purpose.

The Yorosu Cliolio puts it none too strongly

II PARENTAGE AND BOYHOOD. 5

when it says, " We can spare Itos and Shibusawas,
for there can be found many men who are their
equals and who can fill their places. But we can
find no successor to the late Sage of Mita." He was
pre-eminently the greatest benefactor modern Japan
has had ; and the House of Representatives ap-
propriately expressed the national sorrrow when it
passed a unanimous vote of condolence on the
death of Japan's Grand Old Man.

How Mr. Fukuzawa struggled against the frowns
of poverty ; how, surmounting innumerable and
apparently insuperable obstacles, he acquired Western
learning ; how, at the imminent risk of assassination,
he taught his fellow countrymen ; how he continued
his noble efforts to his last year, a narration of
these particulars must prove at once interesting and
instructive to a large circle of readers, both Japanese
and foreign. With this conviction, and with the
earnest hope that the present effort to present such
a narration may prove at least moderately acceptable,
the following pages are offered to the public.

CHAPTER II.
PARENTAGE AND BOYHOOD.

MR. Yukichi Fukuzawa was born on the twelfth
of December, 1834 (the fifth year of Tempo),

6 \ IJl-K 01- Mr. YUKICHl WKVZ. lll'.t. CHAP.

at Dojima, in the city of Osaka. He was the
youngest of five children, of whom the eldest was a
hoy and the other three were girls. His father,
Hyakusuke Fukuzawa, was a retainer of Okudaira
Daizen-no-Taifu, the lord of the Nakatsu clan in the
province of Bux.en, Kyushu. As an accountant of the
kurayasJiiki or granary establishment* of his clan, the
father lived many years in Osaka. He was a samurai
of subordinate rank and his duty as an accountant
was generally considered below the dignity of a
samurai. He was a Chinese scholar trained to
unquestioning belief in Confucian doctrines. Like
most Chinese scholars of his day, he regarded
pecuniary affairs as beneath one's dignity. Naturally
enough he was dissatisfied with his position ; but
circumstances did not allow him to choose a more
congenial occupation.

Vukichi's mother, Jun, was a daughter of a
samurai in the same clan. She appears to havr
been a tender-hearted yet strong-willed woman and
of a charitable disposition.

* The clans in central and southern Japan had establishments in
Osaka, the commercial centre of that region, in order to sell the tribute
rice collected from farmers.

II PARENTAGE AND ROYHOOD. 7

Hyakusuke educated his children in the Con-
fucian doctrines. Some of them were once sent to a
private tutor who had among his pupils the children
of merchants. As was customary in a centre
of commerce like Osaka, this tutor taught the
children, not only reading and writing, but also the
multiplication table. When Hyakusuke heard of
this, he said, " What nonsense to teach children to
count ! Such a teacher won't do for my children."
Accordingly he withdrew his children from the
school.

Hyakusuke died at the age of forty-five. Yukichi
being then only three years old. The eldest son was
at that time a mere boy of eleven years, and the
daughters were under ten. The unfortunate mother,
with her helpless family, returned to live in Naka-
tsu, her native town. Owing to her many years'
residence in Osaka, she had come to speak the
Osaka dialect ; and her children also differed in
language and manners from their neighbors. This
naturally inclined them to avoid making intimate
friends of their neighbors and relations. The
children usually stayed at home and played with
each other. Owing in part to the teachings of their
dead father and in part to the influence of their

8 A LIFE OF Mr. YUKICHl FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

kind-hearted mother, they were well behaved. They
never quarreled with one another and never visited
theatres or other places of amusement. Theirs was,
indeed, a happy home.

The family received a monthly allowance from
the clan, but it was so small that they could not
afford to employ a servant. The mother, assisted by
the elder children, performed all the household
duties. When he became old enough, Yukichi too
helped his mother, pounding rice, cooking food, and
cultivating some land. He was expert in manual
labor and took delight in mechanical contrivances.
He was skilful in pasting paper on shoji (paper
doors) and partitions. Services of this kind he
performed, not only for his mother's family, but also
sometimes for other relatives. As a cobbler, he made
and repaired clogs and sandals for himself and for
members of the immediate family. Occasionally he
mended mats, stopped leaks in the house-roof, and
even hooped pails.

Yukichi's brother, Sannosuke, was educated in
Chinese learning and became a thorough Confucian.
Some years later he went to reside in Osaka as an
accountant of the granary establishment. He once
asked young Yukichi what he intended to be in

II PARENTAGE AND BOY.'IOOD. 9

the future. " Well," answered the latter, " I wish to
become the richest man in Japan and to spend as
much money as I please." Sannosuke made a wry
face and scolded him. Then Yukichi asked his
brother's aim in life. "A Confucian moralist to my
death," was the reply.

When Yukichi was twelve or thirteen years old,
he one day passed where his brother was arranging
some papers and accidentally trod on one of the
sheets. The brother exclaimed, " Look out ! Can't
you see ? Isn't here in this paper written the name
of our lord Okudaira Daizen-no-Taifu ? " "Is there
indeed?" said he, " I did not know that." "Why,
have you no eyes ? Is it right for a retainer to tread
on the name of his lord ? " The brother then
proceeded with a severe scolding and a long discourse
on the duties of a vassal to his lord, after which
Yukichi was obliged to beg pardon. But the young
boy doubted whether it was wrong to tread on a
piece of paper, even though the name of his lord
were inscribed thereon. He further meditated thus :
" If it were wrong to do this, what would happen if
I trod on the name of a god ?" After this reasoning,
he secretly trod on a piece of paper which contained
the name of a god. Since his act brought no

io A LIFE OP Mr. YUKICHI FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

dreadful consequence, he thought : " Well, there is
no harm in this. Let me make another experiment."
This time he subjected the paper to most debasing
usage, a little fearful of the consequence ; but, to
his great satisfaction, no evil followed. Thus
he became convinced that there was no divine
punishment as understood by the Japanese. As
he grew older, he perceived the gross absurdity
of all idolatry, augury, and 'enchantment. He had
no shadow of superstition. One day he opened the
door of an fnari* shrine and substituted a large stone
for the image. A few days later, he was pleased to
see some of his neighbors come and pray before the
imageless shrine.

During his childhood, Yukichi had no incli-
nation to study, and his mother would not urge him
to do* so. At the age of fourteen he had learned
almost nothing. Then he began deeply to regret
the years spent in neglect of his education. Accord-
ingly he entered a private school in the country and
henceforth studied with most exemplary diligence.
Soon he was known as a bright student, and his
natural talents enabled him rapidly to outstrip his
fellow-students. Afterward we find him studying in
* the Japanese goddess of rice.

II PARENTAGE AND BOYJIOOJ). it

the school of a Chinese scholar of some repute by
the name of Shiraishi. He attended this school
about five years and during that time he made a
systematic study of the Chinese classics and read
most Chinese works then in vogue. Among these,
the " Ch'un Ts'ew " or " Spring and Autumn Annals"
by Confucius was his greatest favorite. This work,
which consists of many volumes, he read a dozen
times, and memorized the most interesting passages.
Thus he became a good Chinese scholar. Hence
the opposition which he in later years showed to
Confucianism was not due to any want of acquaint-
ance with the Chinese classics.

There were in Shiraishi's school two poor
students who supported themselves on what they
earned as shampooers. It occurred to Vukichi that
this art of shampooing might in a future emergency
be made a means of self-support by him. He there-
fore sought from his fellow-students instruction in it
and actually became a fairly good shampooer.

While he was a student, Vukichi contributed
something to the family budget. His means were
earned by the pursuit of some subordinate occupa-
tions. At first, he made clogs for sale. Later, he
lacquered and ornamented the sheath and hilt of

12 A LIFE OF Mr. YUKICHl 1-UKUZAWA. CHAP.

swords an art which he had learned from a poor
samurai and in which he acquired considerable pro-
ficiency.

W

CHAPTER III.
STUDIES AT NAGASAKI.

MILE Mr. Fukuzawa was studying at Shira-
ishi's school, Japan was disturbed by an
unexpected event. In June, 1853 (the sixth year of
Kayei), Commodore Perry, American ambassador,
visited Uraga with a fleet and sought to open com-
merciaj relations with Japan. The Japanese who had
lived in quiet seclusion from the outside world during
the two centuries of the Tokugawa regime, were out of
measure astonished at the sudden appearance of the
American men-of-war. " Black ships !" was echoed
and re-echoed throughout the length and breadth of
the Empire. Every possible preparation against
foreign aggressions was undertaken : armies were en-
larged ; methods of military drill were improved ;
gunnery was strenuously studied ; bells of temples
were cast into cannon ; and forts were constructed
at several places.

These circumstances incited our young scholar
to the determination to study Dutch in order to

Ill STUDIES AT NAGASAKI. 13

find access to Western learning and to gain infor-
mation about affairs in foreign countries. The reader
must bear in mind that since the beginning of the
seventeenth century the Dutch and the Chinese were
the only foreigners who had been permitted to trade
in Japan and the Dutch language was the only me-
dium for acquiring Western learning. For the pur-
suit of his studies, Mr. Fukuzawa, in February, 185^
(the first year of Ansei), when he was in his twenty-
first year, proceeded to Nagasaki, where the only
Dutch settlement in Japan existed and where in con-
sequence were found many facilities for the study of
Dutch. Since Mr. Fukuzawa had no means to sup-
port himself, he was made a skokkakn* to Sojuro
Yamamoto, a teacher of gunnery. This position was
secured for him through the kindness of Iki
Okudaira, the son of the chief official of his
clan, who was then studying gunnery under this
teacher. Mr. Fukuzawa served his master in many
widely different capacities : as secretary, accountant,
tutor for the son, and sometimes even servant. He
performed all his duties so faithfully that the master
placed great confidence in him and even offered to

* A student who depends on another person for support and who
generally renders some services in return.

i 4 A UFE 01- Mr. YUKICHI FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

adopt him as a son. During his spare hours, he
eagerly took lessons in Dutch under several scholars,
a certain Narabayashi, an interpreter in Dutch, and
Osho Ishikawa, a physician of the Dutch school,
being the best among them. But each of these men
\vas too busy with his own profession to give him
regular lessons ; consequently no small amount of
Inconvenience was experienced in his study. Dutch
was found so difficult that, with even his bright
talents and untiring perseverance, he required three
days to master the alphabet. Nevertheless his sub-
sequent study resulted in rapid progress.

The rapid progress which Mr. Fukuzawa made
in learning Dutch excited the jealousy of his friend
Okudaira, who was narrow-minded, and who at length
managed to oblige him to leave Nagasaki. Then
Mr. Fuku/.awa decided to go up to Yedo (the present
Tokyo). Me raised a small sum by disposing of a
Dutch-Japanese dictionary, and under the pretence
of returning to Nakatsu, left Nagasaki for Yedo in
March, 1855. On his way to Yedo, he stopped at
Osaka and called on his brother, who was then living
in the granary establishment, with the object of
obtaining pecuniary help. The brothers were, after
a whole year of separation, much delighted to see

J V STUDIES AT OSAKA. 15

each other. The younger Fukuzawa had many un-
expected visitors. The woman who had nursed him
in his infancy ; the woman who had acted the part
of a midwife at his birth ; the honest servant and
many old friends of his dead father all these kindly
came to see him. Mis heart was filled with joyous
emotions and he felt as if he had returned to his
home.

CHAPTER IV.
STUDIES AT OSAKA.

AS Sannosuke would not permit him to proceed to
Ycdo, Mr. Fukuzawa was obliged to reside for
a time with his brother. Soon we find him attending
the Dutch school of Koan Ogata and pursuing his
studies with diligence, lie quickly won a position
among the brightest students, and Ogata treated
him with special favor. Unfortunately, in January
of the following year, his brother became afflicted
with rheumatism and gradually grew worse. " Mis-
fortunes never come singly." In February of the
same year, Mr. Fukuzawa undertook to nurse an in-
timate friend and class-mate through an attack of
typhoid fever, and he himself became inoculated with
the germs. Mis recovery was slow, and for some

i A LIFE OF Mr. YUKKHI FUKUZAWA. CHAI>.

time the state of his health was such that he could
not resume his studies. Meanwhile the brother's
affliction became serious, and moreover his term of
office expired. Hence the two brothers sought
benefit from a change of air, and together they
returned to their home in Nakat.su. After three
months' stay there, Mr. Fukuzawa's health wa.*-
completely restored. As his brother appeared to be
on a fair way to recovery, he proceeded again in
August to Osaka. Scarcely had he resumed his
studies at Ogata's school, when he received from
home a letter which brought the news of his broth-
er's death and an urgent demand for his quick
return. He hastened to his home. The mother,
the sisters, and the relatives were stricken with
sorrow. Yet Mr. Fukuzawa was the one most deeply
affected by this bereavement. For, in addition to
his great personal grief, he succeeded* his brother as
the responsible head of the family. Furthermore
the general opinion of the clan was extremely un-
favorable to Western learning ; and all Mr. Fuku-
/.awa's friends, relatives, and neighbors were strongly

* According to Japanese custom, the eldest living son succeeds to
the family estate and takes the place of his father as responsible head of
the family.

IV STUDIES AT O SAKA. 17

opposed to his going to Osaka again. He could
find nobody to consult about his plans, except his
mother. Eagerly he asked her permission to go to
Ogata's school. The daughter of his dead brother,
an orphan only three years old, was in her care ; and
his sisters were already married. Thus she would
feel very lonesome without her son. But she was a
strong-willed woman ; and, since she wished her son
to make the most of his abilities, she willingly con-
sented to his request. But how raise travelling ex-
penses ? Owing to the expenses connected with the
brother's illness, the family had already incurred
some debt. At length, it was decided to sell over
1500 volumes, which constituted a valued library of
his house, several valuable curios and pieces of fur-
niture. The sum thus realized was sufficient to pay
off the debt, and for the expenses of a journey to
Osaka. As the further pursuit of his plans was thus
made practicable, Mr. Fukuzawa at once set out for
Osaka.

The pluck, persistence, industry, and resource-
fulness of Mr. Fukuzawa are strikingly illustrated by
an incident which occurred at this time. One day
during his stay at Nakatsu, he called on Iki Okudaira
who was then in the town. The latter showed him

i> A LIFE OF Mr, YUKKHf FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

a new Dutch book which he had recently bought for
twenty-three dollars at Nagasaki. It was a work on
fortification by Pell (?) which was the first book of
the kind ever seen by our young Dutch scholar. He
wished to get a copy of this book, but twenty-three
dollars was far beyond his means. Okudaira would
not lend him the book long enough for him to read
it. He gazed at the book for a time and silently re-
gretted his poverty. At this moment, a cunning idea
occurred to him. " This is, indeed, a good book,"
said he to Okudaira, " It is, of course, impossible to
read it through in a hurry ; I wish only to look at
the table of contents and the illustrations. Will
you please lend it to me for a few days ?" Okudaira
consented to his request. Mr. Fukuzawa left with
the book and ran to his house in triumph. Imme-
diately lie began to copy it on Japanese paper with
a quill and Japanese ink. By hard work all day and
late into the night, he succeeded hi copying the
whole volume of some two hundred pages in about
three weeks. In order to prevent either waste of his
time or a report of his proceeding to the jealous
owner of the book, Mr. Fukuzawa refused, during the
entire time, to receive any visitor. As soon as the
work was finished, he returned the book to Okudaira

IV STUDIES AT OSAKA. i g

who had not the slightest suspicion of the use that
had been made of it.

Mr. Fukuzawa arrived in Osaka in November.
Immediately he called on Ogata who, being informed
of his circumstances, kindly offered to support him
during his study. Mr. Fukuzawa at once took up
residence in the boarding-house of the school. He
studied so diligently that he never spread* a bed . for
sleep. When his brain refused to comprehend, he
would lean upon his desk and take a nap. When
he awoke, regardless of the hour, he resumed his
reading. His only weakness was drinking sakt\ He
had a strong fondness for drink. Even when he was
a small child, his mother found that the only plan to
keep him quiet when his head was being shaved was
to promise him some sakt. At Ogata's school, he
indulged this propensity whenever the opportunity
was presented. In all other respects, his conduct was
exemplary. He never quarrelled with anyone. He
never contracted debt nor showed any laxity of
morals. Before he had been long at Ogata's school,
considerable progress was recognized in his studies

* The Japanese bed consists of futons spread on the soft mats of
the floor. When not in use, the futons are folded and put away, and
the apartment has no appearance of a bed-room

10 I LIFE OF Mr. YUKlCai FUKUZAWA. CHAI-.

and he was made liead-student.* As it was a rule
for newcomers to present a certain sum to the head-
.student, Mr. Fukuzawa always had some pocket-
money with which to satisfy his craving for drink.

Koan Ogata, who was by profession a physician,
was a well-known Dutch scholar. His school had an
average attendance of one hundred students, most of
whom were sons of physicians. The boarding
students numbered about sixty. Their conduct
outside the school was so disreputable that the
women and children in the neighborhood spoke
of them with disgust. In summer they were lit-
erally naked. Except in class and at meals, they
wore no garments. In their habits, they were
irregular and absolutely neglectful of hygienic con-
siderations. Between regular meals, they cooked food
with their own pans and konro.\ These utensils
usually lay about their desks. Desks and wash-basins
were often used as kitchen utensils. Disorderly as

* It was formerly a custom in Japan for the master of a school
to select the student who was best in character and acquirements as his
assistant. This assistant or head-student occupied an authoritative
position towards the other students of the school.

+ Portable earthen-ware furnaces.

IV STUDIES AT OSAK. . 21

they were in their habits and manners, they were
nevertheless, as a rule, hard workers. The beginners
were taught the first rudiments of the Dutch gram-
mar by means of two books reprinted in Yedo. Ten
books on natural philosophy and medicine constituted
the school library. As soon as the grammar was
mastered, the students set about making copies of
these books for their own use. Among so many
candidates for the privilege of copying these few
books, it was necessary for them to decide their
turns by lot. As there was no foreign paper for sale,
they wrote on glazed Japanese paper with Japanese
ink and quills of their own make. At intervals of
four or five days, there were class readings of these
copied books. The readings were presided over by
either the head-student or by the best student of the
highest class ; and Ogata now and then gave lessons
only to the highest class. These were the only times
when instruction was given. In their study hours it
was a point of honor with the students not to give or
receive help of any kind. They had to hammer out
the meaning of their text-books by themselves as
best they could. They had no other help than
Zoof's(?) Dutch- Japanese Dictionary and Wei-
land's (?) Dutch Dictionary. The latter being all

22 I LIFE OF Mr. YUK1CHI FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

written in Dutch, it was quite beyond the under-
standing of beginners. The former was written both
in Japanese and in Dutch, so that most of the
students consulted this dictionary. On the night
previous to the day for reading, even the laziest
student sat up all night with his book ; and a number
of students were always found in the "Zoof's Room,"
as it was called, referring to this dictionary in pro-
found silence.

Chemistry had a great attraction for the students.
They were always making experiments with the most
primitive and inadequate means. They succeeded in
plating iron with zinc. An attempt to make iodine
was a failure. They distilled ammonia out of bones
and horse's hoofs ; but the stench was so-horrible
that the experiment had to be removed from the
school to the courtyard and from the courtyard to a
boat on the river. They eagerly dissected dogs, cats,
and the corpses of criminals, whenever the oppor-
tunity offered.

The Lord of Chikuzen once called at Osaka on
his way to Yedo and stayed three days. Ogata
waited upon him and borrowed a book from him
with the promise to return it before his departure.
Ogata brought it to his house and showed it to Mr.

IV STL'DfES AT OSAA'l. 23

Fukuzawa. The book was a Dutch translation of a
new work by Faraday, the famous English scien-
tist. One section of the work was a treatise on
electricity. This subject was treated with minuteness
of detail. Many new theories were also presented in
the work. The text-books in the school treated
only the elements of physics, and the students had
little knowledge of electricity. Consequently this
work excited the interest of Mr. Fuku/.awa, who was
very anxious to devour the contents. But it had to
be returned to the owner within three days and it
was a large volume of about one thousand pages
He took the book to his fellow-students and con-
sulted them about what should be done with it.
They decided to make a copy of the section on
electricity which appeared to be the most interesting.
Thus all the students, each in his turn, set about
copying it. The part which they desired to copy
contained about one hundred and sixty pages. In
three days of constant hard work the task was
accomplished. On the night when the Lord of
Chikuxen was about to depart, they took leave of the
book as if they were separating from a dear friend.
From that time, electricitv was studied much more

24 A l.II-E (>! Mr. YUKICHl FUKUZAWA. CUAI-.

successfully than before ; and the students had no
equals in Japan in knowledge of electricity.

There were then one or two Dutch schools in
Yedo, but Ogata's students might rightly claim the
distinction of being the best Dutch scholars in the
Empire.

CHAPTER V.
DIFFICULTIES OF LEARNING ENGLISH.

IN 1858 (the fifth year of Ansei), Mr. Fukuzawa re-
ceived a summons from the authorities of his clan
to go up to Yedo in order to open a Dutch school
there. In October he left Ogata's school and
proceeded to Yedo. There he took up his residence
in the mansion of his clan at Teppozu (the present
Tsukiji). Soon after, he opened at his home a school
in which he taught a few young sons of his clansmen
and a few students from other clans. As compensa-
tion, he received a moderate salary from his clan.

While he was studying at the Ogata School,
Mr. Fukuzawa used to look down with scorn on the
Dutch scholars in Yedo; but now that he had
become a teacher of Dutch, his vanity failed him
and he could not rest contented until he sounded
their actual scholarship. From this motive, he often

V DIFFICULTIES OF LEARNING ENGLISH. 25

asked them the explanation of difficult passages in
his Dutch books. These passages he himself under-
stood quite well but he frequently found that they
could not explain them. One day he called on
Teiho Shimamura, a Dutch scholar of some celebrity.
Shimamura showed Mr. Fukuzawa a Dutch work on
physiology which he was then in the course of
translating and said that a passage in it was quite
beyond his comprehension, adding that it had
stumbled several of his friends. " Well," said Mr.
Fuku/.awa, " I will try to make out the meaning."
At first sight the passage seemed quite beyond his
understanding, but after much intense thought, he
succeeded, to the satisfaction of his own vanity, in
deciphering its meaning. This little incident freed
him from further apprehension that the Yedo scholars
might be his superiors in Dutch.

In July, 1859 (the sixth year of Ansei), in
pursuance of treaties of amity and commerce con-
cluded the previous year with the United States,
England, the Netherlands, France, and Russia,
Yokohama was opened to foreign trade. In order to
test the practical value of his knowledge of Dutch,
Mr. Fukuzawa sought an early opportunity to visit
the foreign settlement at Yokohama. In the space

26 / /.///: ( >/' Mr. \ 'I Vv'A 7// // 7v7 V.. ilf.i CHAP.

of twenty-four hours he walked there and back forty
miles in all returning weary and footsore. That,
however, was nothing when compared with his
depression at finding that the Dutch, which he had
so laboriously acquired, was of no practical use to
him. At Yokohama he saw many stores kept by
foreigners. He called at some of the stores and
addressed the shopkeepers in Dutch. But they did
not understand him nor could he understand what
they said. He could not even read the sign-boards
over the stores or the labels on the bottles inside.
On inquiring he found that the language spoken there
was English a language so extensively spoken in
the world that it might almost be called international.
On his return to Yedo, he was much discouraged to
think that, if he desired to maintain his standing as
a scholar who was familiar with Western learning, it
would be necessary for him to devote to learning
English as much time and energy as he had already
expended on Dutch. But his was not a nature that
yields to discouragement. On that very day he
determined to learn English. But how accomplish
this purpose? There \vas in Yedo no scholar who
taught English. For some time, he was at a loss
what to do. At last he was delighted to learn that

V DIFFICULTIES Of'' LEARNING ENGLISH. 27

a certain Moriyama from Nagasaki, an interpreter in
English, was then engaged in the service of the
Bakufu* to assist in making treaties with foreign
nations. Mr. Fukuzawa called on him to beg his
instruction in English. The interpreter assented, but
he was so busy with his public duties that he could
find only a little time early in the morning and late

%

in the evening, before and after his hours in the
Foreign Department. At the specified times Mr.
Fukuzawa walked from Teppozu to Moriyama's
residence in Koishikawa a distance of about five
miles each way during two or three months ; but
almost every time he called some unexpected event
prevented Moriyama from teaching him.

Thus disappointed in his effort to learn from a
teacher of English, Mr. Fukuzawa decided to proceed
without the aid of a teacher. For this purpose he
proposed to use two small books partly in Dutch,
partly in English which he had purchased at
Yokohama. In addition, he had need of an English-
Dutch dictionary. But neither in Yedo nor in
Yokohama could such a dictionary be purchased.

* The government of the shogun ; 'curtain government' : so
called decause the shogun's quarters in camp were screened off by a
curtain.

A LIFE OF Mr. YUKfCHI FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

He heard that students of the Jians/w Sliirabcsho,
a government school where Western sciences were
taught, enjoyed the privilege of using many kinds
of foreign dictionaries contained in the library of
the school. With the hope of borrowing there an
English-Dutch dictionary, he immediately secured
admittance to the school. To his great disappoint-
ment, he was refused permission to take the
dictionary home. Deeming it unprofitable to walk
daily from Teppozu to Kudan where the Banslio
WiirabesJio was located merely to consult the dic-
tionary, he on the very first day abandoned the idea
of attending the school.

After the failure of these plans, he asked the
clan authorities to buy him a pronouncing English-
Dutch dictionary in two volumes at the cost of five
dollars; and having secured the dictionary, he began,
\vithout the aid of a personal teacher, 'most assiduous-
ly to study English. As he thought that it might
encourage him to have one or two fellow-students, he
tried to persuade his friends Kohei Kanda and
Masujiro Omura to join him in his study of English,
but in vain. Nevertheless he found an earnest fellow-
student in Keisuke Harada who had also perceived
the necessity of learning English. With the help of

VI FIRST VISIT TO THE UNITED STATES. 29

the English-Dutch dictionary mentioned above, they
could with relative ease translate the sense ; but the
pronunciation was, as we may well imagine, ex-
tremely difficult. Various expedients were adopted,
in order to obtain instruction in pronunciation.
Once they had for instructor in pronunciation a
young boy from Nagasaki who had some knowledge
of English. Occasionally men who had by shipwreck
been obliged to spend many years in foreign
countries would come home to Japan. The zealous
scholars were sure to call on them in order to get
hints on English pronunciation. Thus Mr. Fuku-
x.awa gradually improved his English pronunciation.
Throughout his study of English, he found that his
Dutch acquirements were of far greater use to him
than he had expected.

CHAPTER VI.
FIRST VISIT TO THE UNITED STATES.

A golden opportunity for improving his English
was finally presented to our zealous scholar. In
December, 1859 ( tne sixth y ear f Ansei), the
Tokugawa Government decided to send envoys to
the United States for the twofold purpose of ratify-
ing the previously arranged treaties and observing

30 .//,///: 01- Mr. )TA7CV// /-TA7 //.///'./. CHAP.

economic, political and social conditions in America.
\iimi Scttsu-no-Kami, tiugyo* of Foreign Affairs,
and two other high officials were appointed for the
mission. The envoys and their suite were to go in
the Poivliattan, a warship sent by the United States
Government for their transportation. The Kanrin
Marn, a man-of-war of the Bakufu, was to make her
trial trip as an escort of the Poivhattan. The
Kanrin Marn was a small ship of 100 horse-power
which, two or three years before, had been bought
for $ 25,000 from the Netherlands. She could
utilize steam power only when entering or leaving
port and used sails during voyage. Kimura Settsu-
no-Kami, Hugyo of Warships, was appointed her
captain. The crew numbered ninety-five, among
whom were found Rintaro Katsu (the late Count
Katsu) as commander and Manjiro Nakahama as
interpreter. This voyage of the Kanrin MariL was a
very bold undertaking, considering the fact that the
Japanese had seen steamers for the first time in 1853
and that not until two years later had officers of the
Tokugawa Government begun to learn the art of

* Bujyo were officials of various grades and duties under the
feudal government. There were three or four bu^\d in the Foreign
Department.

VI FIKST I' /SIT TO THE UNITED STATES. 31

navigation. Tlie report of this undertaking speedily
spread about the whole city of Yedo. Mr. Fuku-
zawa could no longer stay quietly in his study.
Having got a letter of introduction to Capt. Kimura,
he watted upon him and offered his services as an
attendant. Somewhat to Mr. Fukuzawa's surprise,
his offer was immediately accepted. The voyage to
foreign lands, it is evident, was then generally
regarded with so much aversion that few persons
would volunteer for such services.

The Kanrin Maru weighed anchor in January,
1 860 (the first year of Banyen) ; and after a voyage
of thirty-seven days, safely reached her destination.
During the voyage, she experienced very stormy
weather, lost two boats, and ran short of water.
Many of the crew were seasick. Commander Katsu
was one of the sufferers and was confined to his
cabin during the entire voyage. Most of the
captain's attendants were also ill. But Mr. Fukuzawa
remained quite well and gave active help to his
master. As soon as the Kanrin Maru reached San
Francisco, distinguished men of the city came to the
ship to congratulate the Japanese on their successful
voyage. Presently a salute was fired on shore.
The Japanese officers proposed to fire in return.

32 ./ UI-'E Ol< Mr. YUKKttr FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

Commander Katsu said, "Ten to one, \ve shall fail
to fire. Let us give up the idea." " Oh, no ! ,"
said Sasakura, chief engineer, " It is not difficult to
fire. Let me try." " Nonsense ! 1 will bet my life
on your failure," said Katsu. The engineer became
excited and persisted in carrying out his idea. Im-
mediately a cannon was cleaned and loaded. To his
triumph and to the mortification of Katsu, he
succeeded in firing a return salute.

The Americans showed the Japanese the utmost
hospitality. The Americans provided free quatiers
for them on shore and docked and repaired their
ship free of charge. Every thing of interest that San
Francisco afforded was freely shown them. They
were taken to manufactories at different places and
were struck with wonder and admiration at the in-
genuity of the machinery. Every thing they saw was
quite novel and wonderful to them. They were
amazed to see vehicles drawn by horses ; and it was
only after several minutes of study that they were
able to understand the use of the carriages. They
were often invited to dinner at large hotels. When
they arrived for the first time at a hotel, they were
surprised to find that the floor of the room was
covered with beautiful carpet. Such carpet only

vi FIRST vrsrT TO THE UNITED STATES, 33

Japanese of luxurious life could afford, and even
then merely in the form of small pieces made into
tobacco pouches or purses. They were still more
surprised to see the Americans walk on the carpet
with dirty shoes ; and it was with some hesitation
that they dared walk on it with sandals. To the
Americans also, the Japanese, wearing haori* and
hakama f, two swords and sandals, and with their
hair tied up in top-knots, presented a very strange
and picturesque appearance. Presently many bottles
were brought in and when they were uncorked a
strange hissing sound was heard. To each of the
guests a glass of Champagne was served. There was
something transparent floating in the wine. It
being a warm April day, the Japanese could not
guess what it was. Some of them ventured to take
the floating substance into their mouths, and, finding
it to be too cold, at once spit it out. Others gnawed
it awkwardly. Strange as it seemed to them, it was
only ice. They started with terror at sight of a
turkey and a pig cooked whole. Mr. Fukuzawa, as
well as the rest, made some blunders. Once, after
lighting his pipe from a stove, he wrapped the ashes

* A kind of coat.

t Loose trowsers with many foldi in the front.

34 A UFE OF Mr. YVKICHI FUtfUZAWA. CHAP.

in a piece of paper and put the paper into his pocket.
He was about to smoke another pipe, when, to his
great surprise, smoke issued from the pocket. He
then found that the paper had taken fire from sparks
that had remained in the ashes.

Mr. Fukuzawa seized every opportunity for im-
proving his English. He and Nakahama the inter-
preter each brought back to Japan a Webster's
Dictionary, the first copies of that work ever im-
ported. His knowledge of Western things was greatly
extended ; but his observation was limited to the
manners, customs, and material things, to the neglect
of the political, social and economic conditions.

Their mission finished, the Japanese left the
land of wonders ; and, calling at Hawaii en route,
they, in May of the same year, returned, after a
peaceful voyage.

During Mr. Fukuzawa's stay in America, some
disagreeable rumors concerning him had arisen among
the people of his native town Nakatsu. One of his
relatives even said to his mother, " I am very sorry
to hear of the unfortunate death of your son in
America. They say his body is salted and brought
back to Yedo." Naturally such rumors caused great
anxiety to his lonely mother.

VI FIRST VISIT TO THE UNITED STATES. 35

On his return to Japan, Mr. Fukuzawa resumed
his teaching. Now, however, he taught English in-
stead of Dutch. Still he could not yet readily under-
stand English books. Consequently, in addition to
teaching his students, he, with the aid of his English-
Dutch dictionary, set himself assiduously to study
English. The number of his pupils rapidly increased.
In this year, he published his first work, " Vocabulary
and Phrases in English, Chinese, and Japanese." Soon
he was employed by the Foreign Office of the Bakufu
to translate foreign dispatches. As there were very
few Japanese who could read or write English or
French, it was customary for ministers and consuls of
foreign powers, in communicating with the Bakufu
authorities, to add Dutch translations to their official
dsipatches. It was chiefly for translating these Dutch
translations, rather than the original language, that
Mr. Fukuzawa was employed. His official duties afford-
ed many facilities for improving his English. He
tried to translate the foreign dispatches directly from
the original English without looking at the Dutch,
and only when he encountered very difficult passages
would he consult the Dutch. This method contrib-
uted much to his progress in English. There were
In the Foreign Office many kinds of English books.

36 A LIPE OF Mr. YUKICHI FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

These he very eagerly read.

The marriage of Mr. Fukuzawa took place at
this period. In 1861, when he was in his twenty-
eighth year, he married a girl of seventeen years, Kin
by name, the second daughter of Tarohachi Doki, a
samurai of his clan. Three years later, their eldest
son, Mr. Ichitaro, was born.

CHAPTER VII.

FOREIGN POLICY OF THE TOKUGAWA
GOVERNMENT.

AN exposition of the later career of Mr. Fukuzawa
requires a preliminary review of the course of
events connected with the foreign policy of the Toku-
gawa Government. As already stated in the third
chapter, in 1853, Commodore Perry, American ambas-
sador, came with a fleet to Uraga, with the object of
arranging a commercial treaty between Japan and
the United States. For this purpose he bore a docu-
ment addressed to the Shogun in which his govern-
ment expressed its request. After a short stay, he
left Japan promising to come in the following year for
a reply. The government of the Shogun was in great
perplexity about the problem thus created. Copies
of the American letter were sent to all the daimyos *
*A daimy6 was the feudal chief of a clan.

VII FOREIGN POLICY. 37

to ask their opinions concerning the course to be
pursued. They immediately sent in answers and
almost unanimously declared against the opening of
the country. The government hurried forward de-
fensive preparations. The military men from various
clans flocked to Yedo and Kyoto with the expecta
tion that they would be called upon to defend their
country against the impudent intrusion of foreigners.

Shortly after the departure of the American
squadron from Uraga, English, Dutch, and Russian
vessels came to Japan on missions similar to that of
the Americans. In February, 1854, Commodore
Perry made his appearance a second time in Yedo
Bay with a fleet of ten fully armed vessels, compris-
ing such an array as had never before appeared in
Japanese waters. After much deliberation and
discussion, proposals and amendments, banquets and
presents, a convention between Japan and the United
States was agreed upon, providing for the relief of
ships and sailors. During the two years following,
similar conventions were concluded also with England,
Russia, and the Netherlands.

These dealings with foreign nations produced
the most intense excitement throughout the Empire.
The old sentiment of hostility to foreign intercourse

38 A LIFE OF Mr. YUfCICfff FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

showed itself in unmistakable intensity. The song
of the " Black Ships " was heard everywhere. Two
distinct parties came into existence, one of which
wished to expel the " barbarians, " as the foreigners
were called by them, and the other were in favor of
opening the country. The members of the latter
party were principally connected with the Shogun's
government and had become impressed with the
folly of trying to resist the pressure of the outside
world. The exclusion party was made up of the
conservative elements in the country, who clung to
the old traditions of Japan that had matured during
the two centuries of the Tokugawa rule. Besides
these conservatives, there was also a party composed
of men who nourished a traditional dislike for the
Tokugawa family. These men were glad to see the
Tokugawa family involved in difficulties which were
sure to overthrow it. These were chiefly found
among the southwestern daiinyos, such as Satsuma,
Choshu, Hizen, and Tosa. The lord of Mito.
although connected with the Shogun's family, was
bitterly hostile to the policy of holding any friendly
relations with foreigners. He was, therefore, regarded
as the head of the exclusion party, and many of

VII FOREIGN POLICY. 39

the disaffected samurai rallied about him as their
champion and leader.

In execution of one provision of the convention,
the United States government, in 1856, sent Townsend
Harris as consul-general to Japan. He was a man
of great patience and tact, and gradually worked his
way into the confidence of the Japanese govern-
ment. He became the counsellor and educator
of the officials in everything pertaining to foreign
affairs. The principal effort of Harris was the
negotiation of a commercial treaty which should
make provision for the conduct of trade in specified
ports of Japan.

Baron Hotta, who was now at the head of the
Shogun's cabinet, drafted a treaty of amity and com-
merce ; and sent a representation to the Imperial
court of Kyoto in December, 1857, stating the
difficulty of exclusion and asking for the Emperor's
sanction to the proposed treaty. But the Emperor
Komei was a great hater of foreigners and much
influenced by the exclusion party. Hence he
strongly opposed the liberal policy of the Bakufu.
No answer came even in January of the following
year. Pressed on one side by Harris, and urged on
the other side by his anxiety for his country, Baron

4 o ./ LIFE OF Mr. YUKICHI FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

Hotta now went in person to the Imperial court.
There he did his best to explain the impossibility of
adhering to the old tradition, but the influence of the
opposing party could not be overcome by him.

Thus the question of making the treaty had
reached the climax of difficulty. None but a master-
mind could solve this problem. Thereupon the
Shogun appointed li Kamon-no-Kami, the lord of
Hikone, to the responsible office of Tairo* He was
a man of rare abilities and great resolution and was
an earnest advocate of the pro-foreign policy. On
his appointment as Tairo, he dispatched a special
message to Kyoto for the Imperial sanction of the
treaty. Just at this juncture, two American men-
of-war came to Shimoda and one of them proceeded
up the Bay of Yedo. This news was immediately
followed by a message reporting an arrival of Russian
warships and saying also that they were soon to be
followed by English and French squadrons which
had been victorious in their war with China. Town-
send Harris pointed out .to the Bakufu the impossi-
bility of exclusion, and the danger attending

* Tiiird literally means Great Elder, and may be translated President-
Senator- A Taird was to be appointed in times of great urgency only
and his authority was dictatorial.

VII FOREIGN POLICY. 41

adherence to the traditional policy. Thinking that
waiting for the Imperial sanction might bring
irreparable disasters upon Japan, li Kamon-no-Kami
decided to assume the entire responsibility himself
and at last signed the treaty in July, 1858.
Similar treaties were concluded also with England,
Russia, and the Netherlands in the following month
and with France in October. These treaties provid-
ed for immediately opening Hakodate, Yokohama,
and Nagasaki, and fixed dates for the opening of
Hyogo and Niigata. During the following ten
years, similar treaties were concluded also with other
nations.

The moment the conclusion of the treaties was
made public, the anti-foreign party began to show
an increased vehemence in their opposition. It was
charged against the Shogun that in making the
treaties without the Imperial sanction he had gone
beyond his proper power. He was not the sovereign
of Japan and never had been. He was only the
chief executive under the Emperor. It was impossi-
ble, therefore, that the treaties made by the Shogun
and not ratified by his sovereign should be regarded
by the Japanese as legitimate and binding. Then li
Kamon-no-Kami sought to crush the opposition

42 A LIFE OF Mr. YUKICHI FUKUZAWA. CHAP-

which assailed his policy. The lord of Mito who
was the head of the anti-foreign party was compelled
to resign and was condemned to confinement in his
private provincial palace. Numerous other persons
who had busied themselves interfering with his
schemes and promoting opposition in Kyoto, li
also imprisoned.

In March, 1860, li was assassinated by eighteen
ronins* of Mito who wished to avenge the imprison-
ment of their prince. His death was an irreparable
blow to the Tokugawa Government. There was no
one who could successfully assume his role.

The outrages which now succeeded each other
with terrible frequency were not confined to the
native members of the opposing parties. Foreigners,
who were so essentially the cause of the political
disturbances in Japan, were particularly exposed to
attacks. In January, 1861, Heusken, the secretary and
interpreter of the American legation, was attacked
by armed assassins and mortally wounded. In the
July following, the British legation was attacked
by some ronins of Mito and Oliphant, the secretary

*It was an old feudal custom that, whenever the retainers of a Jaimijo
wished to avenge any act without committing their lord, they withdrew
from his service and became ronins which means masterless men.

VIII VISIT TO EUROPE. 43

of the legation, and Morrison, British consul at
Nagasaki, were severely wounded. The foreign
powers urged the Bakufu to take measures against
such outrages, but it had almost no control over these
lawless ronins.

CHAPTER VIII.
VISIT TO EUROPE.

THE anti-foreign sentiment began to show itself
in the assassination of foreigners. If, according
to the terms of the treaties, the ports of Hyogo and
Niigata had been opened at this time, the lives of
foreigners would have been exposed to still greater
danger. In view of these alarming difficulties, the
Tokugawa Government decided to send envoys to
Europe to ask for the postponement of the dates for
opening these ports and for establishing certain con-
cessions in Yedo and Osaka. Takenouchi and two
other high officials of the Foreign Department were
appointed for the mission. Their suite, about thirty-
five in number, included three interpreters, three
translators, and two physicians of the Chinese school.
Genichiro Fukuchi, who is now a famous dramatist,
was one of the interpreters. Mr. Fukuzawa was

44 A LIFE OF Mr. YUKICHI FUKU2AWA. CHAP.

among the translators, the others being Munenori
Terashima and Shuhyo Mitsukuri.

Besides his travelling expenses, Mr. Fukuzawa
received from the government four hundred dollars,
the largest sum that had ever found its way into his
purse. He sent one hundred dollars of this to his
aged mother at Nakatsu, and spent the rest in
London purchasing English books.

In December, 1861 (the first year of Bunkyu),
the envoys and suite left Japan in a British warship
which had been sent to convey them to Flurope.
Supposing that European food would hot suit their
taste, they took with them hundreds of boxes of rice.
For their accommodation at hotels, they also took
dozens of large metal lanterns, various hand-lamps
and candles. Dressed in haori and Jiakaina, they
each carried two swords, while their hair was tied up
in top-knots. How odd all this must have seemed
to the citizens of London and Paris !

After calling at Hongkong and Singapore, the
ship landed its passengers at Suez, whence they
crossed to Cairo. With their hearts set upon the
European capitals, they crossed the Mediterranean
and landed at Marseilles. Hastening on to Paris,

Mr. Fukuzawa in 1862.
(From a photograph taken at the Hague,)-

VIII VISIT TO EUROPE. 45

they stayed there twenty days. They then visited
in turn London, the Hague, Berlin, St. Petersburg,
and Lisbon.

On the arrival of the party in Paris, some
French officials came to meet them. After greet-
ings were mutually exchanged, the envoys said to
the officials, " We have a large party and a great
deal of baggage. We hope that you will allow our
attendants to lodge near us." The French officials
promised to make such arrangements and inquired
how many there were. When they heard the num-
ber, they said, '* Very well, each of our large hotels
can accommodate a dozen parties like yours." This
sounded like exaggeration to the Japanese. When
they went to their appointed hotel, they found that
the statement was true. The hotel was a five-storied
building with six hundred apartments. It could
accommodate over a thousand guests. The servants
numbered over five hundred. At first the Japanese
were in constant danger of losing themselves in the
hall-ways. Every room was warmed by steam in
pipes and illuminated by brilliant gas-lights. In the
dining-room every-thing was luxurious, and the
Japanese brought the heartiest appetites to well
appointed meals. Not even a great hater of foreign-

46 A LIFE OP Mr. YUKlCf/J FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

ers could have withstood these dainty dishes.
Thus sumptuously entertained, they laughed at their
folly in having brought rice, lamps and candles.
They had no need to light their own lamps or to
boil their rice. They were puzzled to know what to
do with these burdensome things. At last, they
gladly disposed of them in the form of a present to
one of the French officials.

The European nations vied one with another in
the cordiality of their reception of the Japanese.
The Japanese were given every opportunity to in-
spect the army and navy, the manufactories, banks,
churches, schools, clubs, and hospitals. They were
also invited to the balls and evening parties of the
fashionable circles. But they received the most cor-
dial and extensive hospitality from the Dutch, who
had been in friendly relations with Japanese for over
two centuries. Especially did Mr. Fukuzawa and
the other translators and interpreters who had a
knowledge of the Dutch language greatly enjoy their
time in the Hague.

The party made numerous blunders. On one
occasion, some of them ordered the waiter to bring
cigars. So bad was their pronunciation that the
waiter returned with sugar. Their physicians bought

.VIII VISIT TO EUROPE. 47

what they thought to be ginseng and it turned" out
to be powdered ginger.

The envoys arranged with the treaty-powers
that the opening of the ports of Hyogo and Niigata
should be postponed for a period of five years from
January, 1863. Having thus accomplished their
mission, the party returned to Japan in December,
1862.

This journey through the important countries in
Europe proved of inestimable advantage to the
Japanese in extending their knowledge. Especially
with Mr. Fukuzawa, who was thirsting for knowl-
edge of Western things, was this the case. When
he had visited California, there was not yet a railway
in that state. At Suez for the first time he saw a
line of railway. Later he found that all the principal
cities of Europe were connected by a system of rail-
ways. He was greatly surprised at the speed of the
trains. During his previous stay in America, he had
carefully observed the manners and customs of
Western people, so he now endeavored to gain infor-
mation about political, social, and economic condi-
tions. He sought to investigate those things which
were too familiar to Europeans to need explanation but
which were very difficult to study in Japan. What

4 8 A LIFE OF Mr. YUKlCHr FUKUZAIVA. CHAP.

was a newspaper ? What was a bank and how was
it organized ? What were postal regulations ? What
was a conscription law, an election law, and a legisla-
ture? Such were important subjects for him, and
some of them were so complicated that it took him
a week or so to come to a tolerable comprehension
of the terms. Everything he learned he wrote
down minutely in a note-book. On his return to
Japan, he published these notes in a book called
Sciyo Jijo or " Things Western," which was eagerly
read throughout the length and breadth of his
country. Indeed no book contributed so much to
opening the eyes of his countrymen who had been
until then in utter ignorance of European affairs.

On his return to Japan, Mr. Fukuzawa continued
in the service of the Foreign Office. In addition
to performing his official duties, he continued indus-
triously to write and to teach in his school.

CHAPTER IX.
THE NAMAMUGI AFFAIR.

DURING Mr. Fukuzawa's tour in Europe, the
anti-foreign sentiment had reached its height.
Foreigners were said to have desecrated the Japanese
religion by climbing the sacred mountain Fuji.

IX THE N AM AMU G I APFAIK. 49

Those Japanese who were in the service of foreigners
were called " traitors." Native merchants who had
engaged in foreign trade and dealers in foreign goods
were obliged to close their stores. Numerous per-
sons who had learned foreign languages were assassin-
ated.

On the afternoon of September fourteenth, 1862,
Saburo Shimazu, the uncle and guardian of the young
prince of Satsuma, with his train and escort, was
passing through Namamugi Village, near Kanagawa,
in the province of Musashi, on his way home from
Yedo. A riding party consisting of an English lady
and three English gentlemen attempted to break-
through the line of procession. This act, being quite
contrary to feudal etiquette, offended the Satsuma
men beyond measure. Suddenly a soldier from the
centre of the procession rushed upon the foreigners
with a sword and struck Richardson, one of them, a
fatal blow. Both the other gentlemen were also
wounded, but the lady escaped unhurt. After riding
a few rods, Richardson fell from his horse and im-
mediately died from the effect of his wound.

The British government, which had hitherto
shown good will towards Japan, was highly incensed.
tn February of the following year, a British squadron

50 A LIFE OF Mr. YUKICHI FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

of seven vessels, under the command of Admiral
Kuper, appeared in Yedo Bay. The British charge
d'affaires, Lieutenant-Colonel Neale, sent a lengthy
dispatch to the Japanese government, demanding the
capture and punishment of the murderer of Richard-
son, and the payment of an indemnity of 100,000
by the Shogun's government and of 25,000 by the
Satsuma clan. A decisive answer must be given
within twenty days. Mr. Fukuzawa and two other
translators were called at night to the residence of
Matsudaira Iwami-no-Kami, Bugyo of Foreign
Affairs, to translate the dispatch. They were en-
gaged all night at the task. How should the govern-
ment answer ? The authorities as well as the people
were filled with fear and anxiety about the conse-
quences. Notwithstanding this grave difficulty, the
Shogun left for Kyoto to pay homage to the Em-
peror. Meanwhile twenty days elapsed. Then the
government asked Colonel Neale to wait another
twenty days. After much discussion the request was
granted ; but the authorities could not come to any
decision. During this time, the whole city of Yedo
was in great excitement, and one rumour after an-
other arose. It was actually reported that war would
break out on a specified day. The time extension of

IX THE NAMAMUGf AFFAIR. 51

twenty days was consumed in fruitless discussion and
ten days more were granted. In this way the day
for the answer was repeatedly postponed. To add
to the trouble, the French minister intimated to the
government that France was in sympathy with Great
Britain in the affair in question and that, in the event
of war, her warships would join the British warships
in Shinagawa Bay. The authorities were alarmed by
the threat, but yet could arrive at no conclusion^
While they were hesitating, the day appointed for
the answer drew near. Finally there remained only
two days before the answer had to be given. Then
a proclamation was issued in the city of Yedo to the
effect that in case war were declared the event should
be signalized by the firing of rockets at the Hania
Palace (the present Enrydkutan) and that at this
signal the citizens should prepare for war. At the
Egawa drill ground on the beach of Shinsenza, every
cannon was put in position with its muzzle towards
the bay, in order that it might be fired at a mo-
ment's alarm. The citizens commenced preparations
running hither and thither with their belongings.
At this critical moment, Ogasavvara Iki-no-Kami,
Councilor of the Shogun's cabinet, and Asano Bitchu-
no-Kami, Governor of Yokohama, took the whole

52 A LIFE OF Mr. YUKfCHI FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

responsibility upon themselves and paid 100,000 to
Colonel Neale. Thus the city of Yedo \vas saved
from bombardment.

The British squadron then went to Kagoshimato
demand the payment of the additional indemnity and
the execution of the murderer. Negotiations failed
to effect a settlement and the naval force was called
upon to play its part. Three new valuable steamers,
which the lord of the clan had recently purchased,
were captured and burned. The Satsuma men be-
came indignant and bombardment ensued. The
batteries which lined the shore were dismantled by
the British guns ; and the city of Kagoshima was
almost completely destroyed by fire. After this drastic
lesson the money demanded was paid and this affair
ended, although the murderer was not executed.

Meanwhile patriots whose motto was to " revere
the Emperor and expel the barbarians " had flocked
in great numbers to the Imperial court at Kyoto.
The Emperor at last granted Mori, the lord of
Choshu, an edict which ordered the expulsion of
foreigners. On the tenth of May, 1863, the Choshu
men began to fine upon foreign vessels which at-
tempted to pass the Straits of Shimonoseki. The
Emperor then determined to raise a great army for

X SECOND VISIT TO THE UNITED STATES. 53

the accomplishment of his purpose and to take the
field in person. Conservative patriots and ignorant
rdnins joined his flag, and almost the whole nation
was seized with a fanatic enthusiasm.

At this moment, the tables were unexpectedly
turned. Through the joint influence of the Toku-
gawa Government and the lord of Satsuma, the
Emperor was compelled to suspend his operations
and to drive out of the Imperial city the Choshu
men who had persuaded him to undertake the war.
The Bakufu then obtained the Imperial sanction to
the commercial treaties which were several years
before concluded with the foreign nations. The
Bakufu also gained the Imperial permission to chas-
tise the Choshu clan as " traitors," and for that pur-
pose sent ;i large army to Choshu. Both sides
fought with varying success, until the Shogun's death
in camp put an end to the war.

In December, 1866 (the second year of Keio),
the Emperor Komei died and the present Emperor
ascended the throne.

CHAPTER X.
SECOND VISIT TO THE UNITED STATES.

MR. Fukuzawa made a second visit to the United
States Several years previous to the time

54 ' I. IFF. OF Mr. YUKICHl FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

just mentioned, the Shogun's government had
requested Robert H. Bryan, who was then American
minister, to purchase two men-of-wai from his govern-
ment on behalf of Japan. The sum of $ 800,000
had been remitted to America through him. In
1863 or 64, a warship named Fujiyama Kan cost-
ing $ 400,000 was received. But what had become
of the rest of the money ? No intelligence what-
ever had come from the government at Washington.
The Bakufu, therefore, decided to despatch some del-
egates to America to negotiate about the matter.
Tomogoro Ono, Auditor of Finance, Jutaro Matsu-
moto, and some other officials were appointed for
the mission. As Mr. Fukuzawa was very anxious to
see America once more, he repeatedly called on Ono,
president delegate, and offered his services. His
offer was accepted. The delegates and their suite
set out on their voyage in January, 1867 (the third
year of Keio). In this year, mail-steamer service was
opened between Japan and the United States and
they were able to travel in the first mail-steamer
that came to Japan, the " Colorado," a ship of 4,000
tons After a quiet passage of twenty-two days,
they reached San Francisco ; whence they proceeded

X SECOND VISFT TO THE UNITED STATES. 55

to Washington by way of Panama and New York ;
and negotiations were commenced with Bryan,
the ex-minister to Japan. They agreed to receive an
iron-clad called " Stonewall " and many thousands of
rifles for the money. They returned to Japan in
June.

During this journey, Mr. Fukuzawa incurred the
displeasure of his superiors. Though he was in the
service of the Bakufu, he had no sympathy with it.
On the contrary, he disliked it on account of its class
system, its tyranny, and its conservatism. The dele-
gates were also of conservative and tyrannical prin-
ciples, and every step they took offended his pro-
gressive ideas. Hence it was natural that he argued
with them almost every day. With Shimpachi Seki,
an interpreter, and others, he attacked the incapacity
and ignorance of the Bakufu authorities, and tvent so
far as to say, " Such conservative government must
be overthrown sooner or later." He also said that
the forts off Hyogo and in Shinagawa Bay represent-
ed a foolish waste of money and laboi.

On his return to Japan, he was ordered by the
Rugyo of Foreign Affairs to be confined to his res-
idence as a punishment for his disobedience. He,
however, was not distressed but was rather gratified to

56 A LIFE OF Mr. YUK1CHI FUKUZAWA. CHAP

find that the confinement afforded him leisure and
tranquillity. He devoted all his time to teaching in
his school and to writing and translation. He was
soon after released and again resumed his official
duties at the Foreign Office. But he was not at all
satisfied with his position and resolved not to remain
long in the service of the Bakufu.

CHAPTER XI.
THE MEIJI RESTORATION.

AT the time Mr. Fukuzawa returned from America,
the Imperial court at Kyoto had steadily in-
creased in power until the influence of the Yedo
government was broken. The new Shogun Keiki,
perceiving the anomaly of the duarchy and foreseeing
that his government would not be able to govern
Japan, Vequested the Emperor in October, 1867, to
take back the supreme power to himself. This re-
quest was immediately granted and the Shogun soon
resigned. In December of the same year, Hyogo
and Niigata were opened to foreign trade ; and
foreign settlements were established in Yedo and
Osaka. In the meantime, the Choshu clan had re-
gained the favor of the Emperor. According to the
advice of the chief men of the Choshu and Satsuma

XI THE MEIJI RESTORATION. 57

clans, a thorough revision of official organization was
effected. Important positions in the new govern-
ment were filled by these men ; and the Emperor
being still a boy, the real supremacy seemed to be
in their hands. Those clans which were hereditary
vassals of Tokugawa regarded this state of things
with much dissatisfaction and bitter jealousy. They
persuaded the ex-Shogun Keiki to gather together an
army to expel the Satsuma and Choshu men from
the Imperial capital. On the pretence of paying
homage to the Emperor, he started for Kyoto at the
head of 30,000 men. When the Emperor heard this,
he sent soldiers of Satsuma, Choshu, and Tosa, to
meet the Bakufu army. After three days' hard
fighting in the neighborhood of Kyoto, the Shogun
was totally defeated and he returned to Yedo in a
steam corvette. So bitterly did Keiki regret his
undertaking that he was willing to go again to Kyoto
to beg the Emperor's pardon. But his retainers
would not permit him to do so. They decided upon
an effort to restore the power of the Bakufu. Ac-
cordingly they held a conference to consider means
for the attainment of their object. The Bakufu still
had a powerful army, plenty of provisions and arms,
and a strong fleet of ships. It was extremely doubt-

58 A LIFE OF Mr. YUKICfff FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

ful which side would eventually conquer the Bakufu
forces or the Imperial army. Thus the Empire
was thrown into a state of commotion.

Mr. Fukuzawa did not show the least sympathy
with either party. He had been promoted to the
rank of an immediate vassal of the Bakufu and still
retained his position of government translator. Yet
he was not in sympathy with the Bakufu, as he was
radically opposed to the absolutism and class system
that characterized it. Nor did he care to support the
Imperialists who were so blindly swept away by anti-
foreign spirit. They were so ignorant of affairs in
the outside world that they seemed to him incapable
of ruling Japan. Furthermore, he hated from the
bottom of his heart both formality and officialism,
while he had no ambition to attain political honors.
Owing to the existence of Civil War, all negotiations
with foreign powers were then suspended. Mr.
Fukuzawa therefore had no work to do at his office ;
but he went almost every day to the Shogun's castle
in order to hear the news. One day he saw Mr.
Hiroyuki Kato (who was until recently president of
the Higher Educational Council) at the office. The
latter was in court dress. Mr. Fukuzawa hailed him
saying, " Good morning, Mr. Kato. What ! you are in

XI THE MEIJI RESTORATtON. 59

court dress ; what are you here for ?" " Well, I wish
to get an audience with His Highness the Shogun
who has just returned from Kyoto," was the reply.
" Aha, I see ! By the way, what will be the out-
come of the present affair ? I suppose you know
well whether war will break out or not. Please tell
me." " What will you do if I tell you ?" " What
will I do? Why, if war is certain to break out, I
must pack and leave town ; if not, I can stay here
in peace. Whether or not war will occur concerns
me very much ; pray let me know quickly.'* Kato
said with a wry face, " Pshaw ! I have no time to
talk such nonsense with you." " Nonsense ? I am
in earnest. My life is at stake. You may fight or
make peace as you choose. As for me, the moment
war begins, I will run away from town." Kato here-
upon grew angry and vouchsafed no further reply.
This was how Mr. Fukuzawa felt on the subject at
the time. When the Bakufu offered him a high
appointment, he declined it on the pretence of ill-
ness ; and at length resigned his post as translator.
Furthermore, he abjured his rank of samurai and
became a keimin or commoner. At the same time,
he declined longer to receive his salary from his clan.
The Imperial court mustered a large force from

60 A LIFE OF Mr. YUKICfll FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

many clans for the subjugation of the Bakufu. In
February, 1868 (the first year of Meiji), General Saigo
at the head of the army left Kyoto for Yedo. The
subject clansmen of the Bakufu were determined to
fight to the last, and thus to repay the favors of the
founder of the Tokugawa regime. If both armies
had fought with their utmost energy and persistence
the result of the contest would have been difficult to
conjecture. But the ex-Shogun firmly held to his
original attitude of respectful submission to the Em-
peror, nor would he swerve a hair's breadth from it.
In obedience to the counsel of Avva Katsu and Ichio
Okubo, his two highest officials, he declared that he
would never take up arms against the Emperor, and
so he retired to private life. The Imperial army, al-
ready in the southern suburb of the city, was waiting
to begin the attack. Katsu met Saigo, assured him
of the submissive temper of the ex-Shogun, and
begged him to spare the city. It was done. But
the fanatical retainers of Keiki, unwilling to yield,
made the temple grounds of Uyeno their stronghold.
On the fifteenth of May, they were attacked and
routed, and the magnificient temple, the pride of the
city, was laid in ashes. The seat of war was then
transferred to the highlands of Aidzu, and thence to

XI THE ME1JI RESTORATION. 61

Matsurnaye and Hakodate in Yezo (the present
Hokkaido). Victory everywhere followed the Mika-
do's brocade banner. By July, 1869 (the second
year of Meiji). all traces of the rebellion had dis-
appeared ; and the so-called "Meiji Restoration" had
been fully realized. In October, 1870 (the third
year of Meiji), the name of Yedo was changed to
Tokyo, which literally means the " Eastern Capital";
and the Emperor removed to the castle in the new
capital.

Soon after the downfall of the Bakufu, Mr.
Fukuzawa was offered an appointment by the new
government. But he declined the offer. The govern-
ment renewed its invitation, offering him this time
the post of superintendent of government schools ;
but he again declined. He did so, because his prin-
ciples were in direct opposition to those of the new
government, which was, in his estimation, quite con-
servative and ignorant of the current events of the
world. The authorities had, indeed, opened the
promised ports to foreign trade, but they had done
so under the pressure of foreign powers and against
their will. They merely awaited a favorable oppor-
tunity to expel foreigners and to close the country.
Mr. Fukuzawa could not recognize any benefit in the

62 A LIFE OF Mr. YUKKHF FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

change of the government. Naturally he had no
inclination to enter into the service of such a govern-
ment. He had good grounds for his opinion of the
new government. In July, 1869, the Duke of Edin-
borough, a British Imperial prince, came over to
Japan. Etiquette required that he be granted an
audience by Their Majesties the Emperor and
Empress at the palace. Foreigners were then
considered unclean barbarians and the authorities
were unwilling to admit one of them to the
palace. So, before the prince entered the palace
gate, they caused a religious ceremony of purification
to be performed on his person, in order, as they sup-
posed, to cleanse him of all uncleanness. This cere-
mony naturally elicited from foreign residents in the
country both indignation and ridicule. Portman, then
acting American minister, reported it to the Washing-
ton government under the heading of "A Purification
of the Duke of Edinborough." The report was in
substance as follows : " The Japanese are very self-
conceited recluses who usually treat foreigners like
beasts. Here is an instance. The other day when
the British Imperial prince 'was granted an audience
by the Emperor, a Shinto rite of purification was
performed on his body. In ancient times, water was

XI THE ME1JI RESTORATfON. 63

sprinkled over anything considered unclean in order
to purify it. Since the invention of the art of mak-
ing paper, paper has been substituted for water.
Some pieces of paper called gohfi are waved over
unclean things for the same purpose. A gohei
was used in the case of the British prince who is, to
the Japanese, no other than an unclean creature,"
&c. &c. When told of this report by Shimpachi
Seki, an interpreter in the American legation, Mr.
Fukuzawa felt like crying for regret and mortification.
At about this time, Seward, formerly secretary of
state of the United States, visited Japan with his
daughter. He was a celebrated statesman who
exerted himself much for the emancipation of the
American slaves. He had warm sympathy towards
Japan before he visited the country ; but now that
he witnessed the actual state of things in Japan, all
his sympathy chilled and vanished. He even said,
" I am sorry to say that a nation with such prej-
udices and dispositions will not be able to preserve
its independence."

Under the circumstances, Mr. Fukuzawa saw
with keen insight that .it was of vital necessity to
open the eyes of the great mass of the people who
had no knowledge about the outside world. This

64 A LIFE OF Mr. YUKICHI FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

seemed to him much more important than any polit-
ical improvement. It was the root of every possi-
bility, either of good or of evil. He determined to
devote all his energies to this fundamental popular
education. With this object in view, he extended
his school and at the same time devoted all his spare
time and energy to the work of translation and writ-
ing. His school has since developed into the present
Keio Gijuku, one of the largest, most progressive and
best known educational institutions of modern Japan.
The services rendered by his school and by his books
to the formation of the New Japan will be described
in the following two chapters. In those days, every
ambitious man was eager to get an official appoint-
ment ; but Mr. Fukuzawa was never affected with
the mania. He preferred quietly to continue his
work as educator and as author, vocations which were
then among the most unattractive. This shows
clearly how far-sighted and how great he was.

Afterwards the government became impressed
with the folly of trying to return to the ancient policy
of seclusion, and finally adopted progressive principles.
Even then Mr. Fukuzawa had no inclination to enter
into government service. In his Autobiography the
following reasons are given for his persistent refusal

XI THE ME/JI RESTORATION. 65

to meddle with politics : although a progressive
policy was adopted, yet the class system was in exist-
ence as before ; and government officials acted with
arrogance. They were generally low in character ;
they lacked private virtues and behaved with licen-
tiousness. His nature did not permit him to act in
cooperation with them. In the conflict between the
Imperialists and the Bakufu, most Bakufu vassals had
made great show of loyalty to the Tokugawa family;
but when the Bakufu fell, they at once went over to
the new government and hunted for places. This
fact dulled what political ambition he had. Lastly,
when the new government was placed on a firm basis,
every man, whether scholar or soldier, peasant or
merchant, was anxious to get a position in it.
Government service became the centre of ambition,
and very few persons had the slightest idea of in-
dependence and individuality. This was an unavoid-
able result of the Confucian system of education. Mr.
Fukuzawa perceived the vital necessity of inculcating
in the masses of the people the essential principle
that the independence of a nation consists in the in-
dependent spirit of the individuals composing it. He
himself became an illustrious example of independ-
ence and individuality, and he adhered to thi*

66 A LIFE OF Mr. YUKICHI FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

independent and democratic principle throughout life.
This is what so remarkably distinguished him from
his contemporaries.

THE DREAD OF ASSASSINATION. At this point,
it is appropriate to refer to the great personal danger
to which Mr. Fukuzawa was long and constantly
exposed. It has already been stated that ignorant
and conservative people wanted to close Japan against
foreigners who were regarded as unclean barbarians.
They not only hated foreigners, but they also extreme-
ly hated scholars of progressive ideas, especially
persons versed in Western learning, whom they called
" traitors." After the assassination of li Kamon-no-
Kami, assassinations had become rather frequent.
Among those persons who had acquired a knowledge
of Western conditions and customs, the victims of
assassination were specially numerous. During the
years 1862 74, such persons were at the constant
risk of assassination. Some intimate friends of Mr.
Fukuzawa had been attacked by ignorant ronins, and
he himself who was also regarded as a traitor was
always in the dread of assassination. So during these
years, he managed to avoid going out at night ; and
whenever he was obliged to travel, he assumed a false
name in order to conceal his identity. In 1864

XI THE MEIJI RESTORATION. 67

(the first year of Gwanji), he went to his town Nakatsu
with a view to persuade some young men of his clan
to study the arts and sciences of the West. On his
return voyage, a storm arose and the ship in which
he sailed was obliged to stop at a harbor. Imagine
his surprise to find that the harbor was Murotsu in
Choshu, which was so notorious for its anti-foreign
sentiment ! The ship stayed there a few days. One
day he went ashore and visited a barber's shop.
The barber spoke zealously about the necessity of
overthrowing the Bakufu and expelling foreigners
from the country. Children playing thereabout were
loudly singing a song in which similar sentiments
were expressed. Soldiers, variously clad and with
guns on their shoulders, deported themselves very
haughtily in the streets. If his identity had been
betrayed, he might have been killed by them on the
spot. But his assumption of a false name saved him
from such an unhappy fate.

In 1870 (the third year of Meiji), Mr. Fukuzawa
again visited Nakatsu for the purpose of bringing to
Tokyo his aged mother and his young niece. The
residents of Nakatsu, who were of anti-foreign
prejudices, entertained extreme hatred towards him,
and some of them even awaited a convenient oppor-

68 ./ 1JFE OF Mr. YUKICHI FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

tunity to assassinate him. But he had at the time
no knowledge of their intention ; so he stayed there
for some time. A cousin of his by the name of
Sotaro Masuda was among those who cherished
designs against his life. Mr. Fukuzawa and Masuda
had during their boyhood been intimate playmates ;
but the latter had since become a very conservative
patriot. He afterwards joined General Saigo in his
so-called " rebellion " and fell at Kagoshima. Masuda
had determined to assassinate Mr. Fukuzawa. In
order to execute his purpose, he one night proceeded
with a sword to Mr. Fukuzawa's house. As he
secretly watched through a window, he observed
Mr. Fukuzawa, quite ignorant of danger, pleasantly-
talking over sake with a certain Hattori. The
would-be assassin waited and waited for the departure
of the visitor ; but they both drank and talked until
the small hours. Masuda at length tired of waiting,
abandoned his purpose and departed. The night
before embarkment, Mr. Fukuzawa with his mother
and niece lodged at an inn at Unoshima Harbor,
three miles west of Nakatsu. The innkeeper,
who shared the views of Masuda, also desired the
death of Mr. Fukuzawa. Accordingly he planned
the assassination of the latter with several young

XII THE KEIO G1JUKU. 6g

men of the place. At a signal given by the inn-
keeper, these young men came, sword in hand, and
surrounded the inn. Mr. Fukuzawa was indeed at
the " Jaws of Death," though he knew not of it.
But curiously enough, as the assassins were about to
enter the house, they had a difference as to who
should strike the first blow. Each contended for the
bloody honor and a stormy dispute ensued. While
they were quarreling, day broke ; so they gave up
their murderous intention and went away.

Mr. Fukuzawa was so much at the risk of as-
sassination, that in his residence at Mita a special
place of concealment was provided. Part of the
floor was built higher than was usual and underneath
it was a hiding-place, wherein he intended in case of
danger to conceal himself.

CHAPTER XII.
THE KEIO GIJUKU.

IT has already been narrated how Mr. Fukuzawa
began, in the winter of 1858 (the first year of Ansei).
to teach the Dutch language to a few young samurai
at Teppozu. In 1860, on his return from America,
he gave up teaching Dutch and began instead to
teach English. Then his students numbered between

70 A LIFE OF Mr. YUKICHI FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

forty and fifty, and in 1867 (the third year of Keio)
the number had increased to eighty. At this time,
excitement was running high throughout the Empire
over the fanatic proposal to expel foreigners ; and
advocates of Western learning were in consequence
at the constant risk of assassination. But Mr. Fuku-
zawa continued to teach with calmness. The Bakufu
university " Shoheiko " and every other school,
government or private, had gone out of existence
with the single exception of his school. In Decem-
ber, 1867, Teppozu was made a foreign settlement :
whereupon his school was removed to Shinsenza,
Shiba Ku, where a school-house was built with a
boarding-house attached. During his second visit to
the United States, Mr. Fukuzawa had bought as
many English books as his allowance from the Bakufu
permitted, these being many dictionaries of different
kinds and a large number of works on geography,
history, law, political economy, mathematics, and
other branches of learning. The students each
enjoyed the privilege of borrowing these books
which were the very first copies imported to
Japan. Owing to these circumstances, the students
steadily increased in number. Up to this time, the
school had had no name. Soon after the removal to

XII THE KEIO GIJUKU. 71

Shinsenza, it was given the name Keio Gijuku after
the name of the era. At this time, the struggle
between the Imperialists and the Bakufu party was
raging, and Yedo was a scene of commotion and
confusion. Daily business of the city was suspended :
shops, theatres, public halls, restaurants were closed.
The surroundings were extremely unfavorable to
quiet teaching. Moreover, most of the students, be-
ing samurai of different clans, were obliged to leave
the school to enlist as soldiers ; and the school was
for two or three days reduced to only eighteen
students. Mr. Fukuzawa, however, was not in the
least discouraged and did not stop teaching even a
day. The battle of Uyeno (Uyeno Park of to-day)
took place on the fifteenth of May. On that day he
commenced to teach Wayland's " Political Economy,"
which had just arrived from abroad. While he was
lecturing, the report of guns was continually heard,
but the battle-field being about four miles distant he
lectured on and did not pay the slightest attention to
the firing. During the lecture, some of the students
stole away and went up on the roof of the school-
building to see the smoke of battle. While Mr.
Fukuzawa thus continued to teach with calmness and
perseverance, the desire for a knowledge of Western

72 ./ LIEF OF Mr. YUKICHl FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

things gradually spread in spite of the war, and
the number of his students began again lo increase.
At that time, there was no other school in
the Empire wherein Western learning might be
acquired. Mr. Fukuzawa said for encouragement to
his students : " Many years ago, most European
countries were conquered by Napoleon Bonaparte.
Holland with its colonies was invaded by his armies ;
and there was no place in the world to hoist her flag
but Deshima in Nagasaki, Japan, which was then
a Dutch settlement. Here at Deshima the Dutch
flag was hoisted and thus the independence of
Holland was not destroyed for a single day. The
Dutch speak of this fact with pride. Now, our school
is a Deshima for Western learning in Japan. We
are preserving it through this turbulent period. Our
school has never ceased work even a day ; and
as long as the Keio Gijuku exists, Japan may be
counted one of the civilized nations. My students,
you need not trouble yourselves about current events
in the least.''

After some time, the war came to an end and
peace was restored throughout the country. But
the new government was too busy with political
reorganization to pay any attention to educational

XII THE KE1O GJJUKU. 73

affairs. As late as the time when the clans were
abolished and the feudal system was destroyed,
foreign languages, the sciences and arts of the
West were taught in no other school. At the
close of the war, the number of students in the Keio
Gijuku rapidly increased. During the three years
ending with 1871 (the fourth year of Meiji), the Keio
Gijuku had an average attendance of three hundred
students. Many of them were young samurai who
had fought during the war. Those from Tosa
province wore long swords and looked as if they were
ready to draw them on the slightest provocation.
They sometimes wore women's red garments which,
they told with pride, they had captured at Aidzu.
In dealing with these unruly students, Mr. Fukuzawa
experienced no small difficulty. He made some
simple regulations for their discipline. Among
others, the lending and borrowing of money, and
scribbling on walls, slioji, and desks, were strictly
prohibited. When he found scribbling on the s/ioji,
he would cut away the disfigured part and tell the
students in the room to mend the place. If obstinate
students would not obey his command, he shrugged
his shoulders, grinned, and assumed an attitude as if
he were going to fight with them. He was so tall

74 A LIFE OF Mr. YUKICHI FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

and so strongly built, that they would cower and beg
his pardon.

About 1871 Mr. Fukuzawa began to charge the
students a small monthly tuition fee. This was the
origin of the present custom of charging monthly
fees. Up to that time, it had been customary in
private schools for students twice a year to give their
teachers some presents in compensation for teaching.
The presents, which consisted of money or goods,
were wrapped up in paper ; and the amount was
determined by the students. Mr. Fukuzawa saw the
absurdity of this custom. He thought that, in
respect of remuneration, teaching was not in the least
different from any other kind of work. Hence it was
quite right to demand a sum of money for teaching.
This thought induced him to fix the fee to be paid
by students ; and he told them to bring the money
without the customary envelope. Yet at first the
students did not dare to do this. The money was
brought in an envelope with a misuhiki* and a noshi.^
He said, " These things are very troublesome for
counting the money" ; and taking the money out of

* A fine paper cord (usually of white and red color) for tying up
presents.

t A piece of fancy paper always attached to the envelope of a present.

XII THE KEIO GIJUKU. 75

the envelopes in their presence, he returned the
envelopes to them. Now-a-days monthly fees are
common and regarded as a matter of fact ; but at this
time, they were quite a novelty, and naturally enough
the students as well as the public thought his act
very vulgar.

During this time, the number of students had
been steadily increasing and the school-building was
found too small for their accommodation. Hence in
the spring of 1871 (the fourth year of Meiji), the
Keio Gijuku was removed to its present site at Mita,
Shiba Ku. A large mansion with spacious grounds
which formerly belonged to the lord of Shimabara
had there been purchased for the school. At the
same time, Mr. Fukuzawa's residence was also re-
moved to the new location. It may be remarked
in passing that the school-building at Shinsenza was
sold to the Kogyokusha, a well-known private educa-
tional institution, which remains in the same place to
this day. The parlors and sitting rooms of the palace
at Mita were turned into class-rooms ; and the maids-
of-honor apartments into a boarding-house. The
ground is thirty times as large as that of the former
site ; and the building was very much better. The
site is remarkably well suited for a school. The air is

7 6 A LIFE OF Mr. YUKlCli! FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

pure, the neighborhood is comparatively quiet and
retired ; and a beautiful view of Shinagawa Bay is to
be 'seen below.

The number of students continued to increase ;
and in 1872, it had become about four hundred.
About this time, the expansion of the school obliged
Mr. Fukuzawa himself to discontinue teaching.
The teaching was now left entirely to some gradu-
ates of the school who several years before had begun
to assist in this work, while he confined himself ex-
clusively to the duties of superintendent. On the
other hand, Mr. Fukuzawa was very busy writing
books and translating English works, by which
means he earned his livelihood. He did not appro-
priate to private use a single penny from the school
treasury, but now and then he spent his own money
on the improvements of the school. It was not in-
frequent that he gave pecuniary help to some of the
teachers.

Until 1874, the instruction of the Keio Gijuku
was directed chiefly to a mastery of the meaning of
English books. Now that the intercourse of the
Japanese with foreigners was becoming more and
more frequent, speaking and writing English were
found to be of viral importance. Hence in 1873 (the

XII THE KEIO GIJUKU. 77

sixth year of Meiji), two Americans were engaged as
teachers. Since then, the school has had continuously
in its service a larger or smaller number of foreign
teachers. Not long afterwards, by the advice of the
Americans, the Keio Gijuku was organized into a
college on almost the same footing as American
colleges. Mathematics, physics, chemistry, botany,
political economy, history, law, and other common
branches were included in the curriculum. English,
however, continued to be the most important subject*

In 1874 (the seventh year of Meiji), a Primary
Department for children was attached to the Keio
Gijuku.

In the spring of 1875 (the eighth year of Meiji),
an auditorium was built close by the school-building,
the training for speaking and debating having been
found to be an important part in a complete educa-
tion. Here teachers and students might speak on
any subject and they met two or three times a
month for speaking and debating. Such meetings
continue to be held to this day. Mr. Fukuzawa
spoke at almost every meeting. The students could
not receive his personal instruction in the class-room.
It was only in the auditorium that they could enjoy
the privilege of hearing his opinions. His profound

78 / LIFE OF Mr. YUKICHI FUKUZAWA. CHA*>.

thougts, his ideas regarding the secrets of how to
get on in the world, his opinions on literature, finance,
and a great variety of other subjects, found expres-
sion in the auditorium. His addresses exercised a
most profound influence over the education, ideals,
and character of the students.

A word about the origin of public speaking in
Japan may not here be out of place. Strange to say,
the Japanese had not known the art of public speak-
ing before Meiji. Mr. Fukuzawa introduced this art
into Japan ; and the Keio Gijuku auditorium was the
first building of its kind constructed within the coun-
try. In the spring of 1873 (the sixth year of Meiji),
Mr. Fukuzawa came across a small treatise on the
art of public speaking. As he thought that it would
be a great benefit to introduce the art to the Japanese
public, he translated and published this booklet. He
experienced, he says, no small difficulty in rendering
the words, " speech ", " debate," " pass," " reject,"
and " second." He and his disciples proceeded to
apply the theories set forth in the book. By means
of assiduous practice, they became able to present
their views to a public audience in a clear, convincing
and attractive form. It is said that Mr. Fukuzawa
derived great profit, in the way of indirect sugges-

XII THE KEIO G1JUKU 79

tion, from listening to a famaus story-teller named
Hakuyen. With the ardent desire to extend the
knowledge and the practice of the art of public speak-
ing throughout the Empire, he and his followers
endeavored to persuade their friends to follow their
example. But the new art gained few devotees.
There was at this time a society of scholars known
as the " Meirokusha " of which Mr. Fukuzawa was a
member. Here the champion urged the claims of
public speaking, but his advocacy was all in vain.
Arinori Mori, an earnest advocate of Western learn-
ing who afterwards became Minister of Education,
ventured the opinion that the Western custom of
public speaking was practicable only in the Western
languages ; that Japanese was suitable only for con-
versation and was quite inadequate for addressing
public bodies. To this Mr. Fukuzawa replied, " Is it
possible that one can converse freely in one's mother
tongue and yet cannot speak before an audience p
Certainly Japan has long been familiar with what
may fairly be called a kind of public speaking. The
bonzes and story-tellers often address large audiences.
Surely then it is reasonable to believe that we schol-
ars can do as well as they." This was his argument;
but he spoke to deaf ears. Some days later, the

80 / A//-'/-: or M>. YUKICHI PUKUZAWA. CHAI-.

same society met again. Among the topics of con-
versation was the new art ; and again the majority
spoke of it discouragingly. Then the dauntless cham-
pion hit upon a clever expedient. He said to his
friends in an artless way, " Gentlemen, 1 have some-
thing to tell you. Will you please give me a mo-
ment ?" They assented and he went on : " Pray, be
seated on both sides of this table; I will speak here."
Then he rose at one end of the table and began to
speak about the Formosan Expedition which was
the burning question of the day. He continued for
about an hour very fluently, and they listened with
unflagging attention. When he finished he took his
seat and asked them whether they had understood
him. They answered that they had heard him with
much interest and had understood him perfectly.
" Well, then," said Mr. Fukuzawa in triumph, "so
you see you are quite wrong in saying that one can
not speak in Japanese before an audience. I have
been speaking in Japanese, and you have all under-
stood me. Isn't that a speech ? So let us hear no
more arguments against public speaking hereafter."
They were all struck dumb, and from that day the
battle was won. Since then the practice of public

XII THE KEIO GIJUKU. 81

speaking gradually became more and more general
throughout the country.

In 1890 (the twenty-third year of Meiji), a
University Department with the three courses in
Literature, Law, and Economics, and a Commercial
Department were established. Then His. Majesty
the Emperor graciously made a contribution to the
funds, in recognition of the services rendered by the
institution to the cause of learning. Following the
Imperial example; many other persons who were
interested in the Keio Gijuku also generously con-
tributed to the Endowment Fund.

The Keio Gijuku is now the greatest private
institution in Japan and its students number about
1,700.

A constant cause of trouble to this institution
has been the state of its finances. There has
been collected more or less of a maintenance fund,
but the interest of this alone is of course total-
ly inadequate for meeting the current expenses
and for making improvements which from time to
time become necessary. The consequent necessity
in- the past of drawing on the fund itself and the
possibility -of still further encroachments on It in the
future have naturally created serious anxiety for t-he

82 A LIFE OF Mr. YUK1CHI FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

future of the institution. Hence the Keio Gijuku is
now appealing to the public for pecuniary contribu-
tions. It is hoped and confidently expected that the
public may be sufficiently appreciative and generous
to contribute the funds which are necessary to per-
petuate this useful and appropriate monument to a
noble and unselfish man.

Mr. FUKUZAWA AND THE KEIO
GIJUKU STUDENTS.

The Keio Gijuku was at its beginning a home
school; and although it developed into a large institu-
tion, it still retained the essence of a home school,
Mr. Fukuzawa being the spirit of it to his last day.
His influence over the students was boundless. It is
no exaggeration to say that there was no student in
it but became before graduation a Fukuzawa in ideas,
feelings, opinions, principles, and character. Mr.
Fukuzawa was, as it were, a second father to every
student. He loved them with all his heart, and treat-
ed them as he treated his own children. They enter-
tained the same affection towards him that they did
towards their parents. When students called on
him, he met them gladly and joyfully talked with
them. He would tell his wife or any member of his

XU THE KEIO GIJUKU. 83

family who happened to be near him, to " give these
lads some sweetmeats" ; and would tell the young
visitors to make themselves at home. When students
called on him for the first time, he would inquire
about their birth-places, their social standing, the
wealth and professions of their parents, their ages,
their health, and their aims in life. He would ask,
*' Are you healthy? Is your father rich or poor?
Have you any tact in dealing with people?" These
questions he asked in order to make them think about
their future. The following anecdote shows how he
loved his students. One day a certain lieutenant-
general who was quite a stranger called to see
him. Mr. Fukuzawa had his servant inquire whether
the visitor had any letter of introduction. The gen-
eral had none. Mr. Fukuzawa declined to see him.
The general was offended and thought, " I am a
high officer of the Empire. He ought to know me
by reputation. He is very impolite in declining to
see me." But he thought again, "Oh, I am mistaken.
He is a great man and his refusing to see me without
any letter of introduction is not unreasonable. For-
tunately I know a student in his college. So I had
better get myself introduced to him by the student."
He called on Mr. Fukuzawa again accompanied by

84 / UFE OP Mr. YUKfCHI FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

the student. This time he was gladly welcomed by
Air. Fukuzavva and a pleasant conversation was car-
ried on between them for hours.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE KEIO
GIJUKU MEN.

About 1 2,000 men have attended the Keio Gijuku
since its establishment and about 3,000 of them
have graduated. They have engaged in different
lines of work. Some of them are statesmen ; some
are journalists ; some are educators ; some are govern-
ment officials ; and a considerable number of them
are business men. During the first years of its exist-
ence, they fought against the antiquated principles
of the Chinese system of education and did their
best in introducing Western knowledge and Western
methods of education. During this period the Keio
Gijuku made thinkers who were needed by the times;
and most of them worked as educators and scholars.
The public regarded the Keio Gijuku as the sole
agency concerned in introducing new knowledge from
the West. When the new government, contrary to
expectations of the people, began to adopt despotic
measures, the Keio Gijuku men exerted themselves
with a view to correct the government policy. They

XII THE KEIO GIJUKU. 8j

argued against these oppressive measures and sought,
by instructing the political leaders, to win them over
to a liberal policy. During that time, the Keio Gijuku
sent out many earnest politicians and champions of
the people's rights. The government yielded to the
demands of the people and granted liberty of speech
and public discussion. Finally a constitution was
promulgated and it was declared that a Diet should
be established to represent the various interests of
the nation. Then the people became too enthusiastic
in their devotion to politics, and most men of ability,
sought occupation only in the public service. Con-
sequently the various economic interests which are
the source of national prosperity and which depend
upon private initiative began to suffer. Then the
Keio Gijuku men began to call the attention of the
public to the prime importance of business interests,
and most of them have been devoting themselves to
the development of commerce and industries. Nine
out of ten Keio Gijuku students of the present day
aim at becoming business men. Almost half of the
important positions in banks, manufactories, com-
mercial firms in Japan, are filled by the Keio Gijuku
alumni ; and they are succeeding well. In the spirit
of independence and self-respect, in common sense,

86 A LIFE OF Mr. YUKICHI FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

in the spirit of forbearance, in freedom from formal-
ism, in the tactful dealing with people, in practical
morality, in the ability to seize opportunities in
these qualities which are essential to business men,
they have no superiors. These qualities are the char-
acteristics of the Keio Gijuku men in general. In a
word, each of them is a small Fukuzawa. Although
Mr. Fukuzawa is now dead, his spirit and principles
are kept alive by them ; and there is every reason to
believe that the Keio Gijuku will continue to be as
prosperous as it was during his life.

CHAPTER XIII.

MH. FUKUZAWA AS A WRITER.

MR. Fukuzawa's career as a writer was com-
menced in 1860 (the first year of Banyen) and
continued down to 1899 (the 32nd year of Meiji), that
is two years before his death, the interval being a
long period of forty years. His writings cover a
wide range of subjects in language, science, politics,
religion, and morals. Scarcely an important topic of
human interest was left untouched by him. He
wrote fifty-five works in more than one hundred
volumes, not to speak of numerous articles inserted

XIII Mr. FUKUZAWA AS A WRITER. 87

in the Jiji Shimpd and many other essays not yet
published.

His books were all published at his own cost.
The proceeds from his writings constituted during
forty years his sole income ; yet he thereby earned
enough to support in ease and comfort his large
family.

Mr. Fukuzawa wrote with a view to break down
the ideas, beliefs, and customs of the Old Japan, and
to substitute as a foundation for the New Japan the
principles of Western civilization. His object was
thoroughly to Westernize the nation as a whole, and
in the attainment of this object the measure of his
success was remarkable. Unlike most of his con-
temporaries, he wrote for the people in general and
not chiefly for students and for the upper classes.
Such being his purpose, he created a style of his own
which is singularly adapted to people of every class.
It combines in a most striking manner great lucidity
and extreme simplicity. Prof. Dening says of his
style : " To deal with difficult subjects in a way that
makes them perfectly intelligible to the most ordinary
comprehension this requires special gifts gifts with
which only a Very few people in any age or any
country are endowed. No matter on what subject

88 ./ LIFE OF Mr. YUK'ICHl FUKV/.AWA. CHAP.

Mr. Fukuzawa wrote, there was striking lucidity
about all he said. As a foreigner I may say that I
know no Japanese writer whom it is easier to under-
stand than Mr. Fukuzawa."

In the ability to treat profound and complicated
subjects in plain language, Mr. Fukuzawa had no
equal. His style is not only lucid and simple but it
has also vigor and charm. Humor and sarcasm also
appear in his writings. It is a special characteristic
of his style that where vulgar and obscene things
must be mentioned, they are spoken of in elegant
language. In the happy use of similes and apt
illustrations, his writings have never been surpassed.
It is said that Mr. Chushii Mishima, the celebrated
scholar and writer, whenever lecturing on composition
and rhetoric, cites Mr. Fukuzawa's style as the most
perfect in the use of felicitous illustrations. In
consequence of its simplicity and clearness, its vigor
and directness, its ease and charm, its imagery and
elegance, the " Fukuzawa style " or " Mita style " is
justly famed throughout the Empire. Mr. Fukuzawa
may therefore be truly designated the greatest
Japanese writer of his time.

. Mr. Fukuzawa owed, as he. confesses in his
Autobiography, much for his style -to -suggestions of

XIII Mr. FUKUZAWA AS A WRITER. 8g

his master Koan Ogata. The latter, when translating
Dutch, grasped only the general idea and did not
trouble himself about minor points, intelligibility
being his all important principle. Mr. Fukuzawa
was once translating a work on fortification by a
Dutchman. His master said to him, " You must bear
in mind that you are translating a book for the
military classes which are as a rule illiterate and
ignorant. So you must be careful not to use difficult
expressions ; and you are advised not to consult any
Chinese dictionary lest you may be tempted to
employ difficult words." This advice became the
guiding principle with Mr. Fukuzawa in writing and
translation. He endeavored as far as possible not to
make use of cumbrous Chinese characters which most
writers take pride in using. Sometimes he had his
manuscripts read to illiterate women and children,
and wherever they could not understand, he found
some difficult phrases which he without hesitation
changed into easier ones.

The very first book written by Mr. Fukuzawa
was " Vocabulary and Phrases in English, Chinese,
and Japanese" which appeared in the autumn of 1860
(the first year of Banyen). It was by the publication
rt'Seiyd Jijo or "Things Western" that he became

go A LIFE OF Mr. YUKICHl FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

known throughout the Empire as an author. This
work consists of three volumes, of which the first
was brought out in July, 1866 (the second year of
Keio), the second in the winter of the following year,
and the last in the autumn of 1869 (the second year
of Meiji). The subjects treated in the first volume
are : the forms of government, methods of taxation,
national debts, postal systems, paper money, firms,
foreign intercourse, military system, literature and
the arts, schools, libraries, newspapers, hospitals,
poor-houses, asylums for mutes and for the blind,
lunatic asylums, kindergartens, museums, exhibitions,
steam engines, steamships, railways, telegraphs, and
gas-lights. In addition, it contains much historical
information about the governments, armies, navies
and finances of the chief Western countries. The
second volume is a translation of Chambers' "Political
Economy" and of two or three other works on the
same subject. The third volume is a translation of
portions of Blackstone's "Commentaries on the Laws
of England" and of the section on "Taxation" in
Wayland's "Elements of Political Economy." The
contents of the first volume are simple and rather
shallow descriptions of the things in the West which
are now-a-days familiar even to school-boys. For

XIII Mr. PUKUZAWA AS A WRITER. gi

example, the chapter on ' Newspapers" begins thus:
" Newspapers are publications issued by companies
for general circulation, intended to convey intelligence
of current events." But since no such book had
previously been published in Japan, these things were
quite novel to the Japanese. Hence the first volume
was welcomed by the public with such great
enthusiasm that 182,000 copies of it were quickly
sold a sale that was quite extraordinary for a
Japanese book. Since authors in Japan did not at
that time enjoy the strict protection of copy-right
laws, some cunning publishers in Osaka and Kyoto
printed and sold pirated copies to the number of at
least 100,000. No other book ever contributed so
much towards opening the eyes of our countrymen
who had been quite ignorant of affairs in the outside
world. Even conservative patriots and ignorant
rdnins whose motto had been to "expel the hairy
barbarians" began to modify their proposal after the
appearance of this book. Afterwards, when the
leaders of the new government decided to adopt a
progressive policy and while they were yet ignorant
of practical methods of procedure, they found in this
book important help and guidance. Indeed "Things

92 A LIFE OF Mr. YUKKHl FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

Western" was, as it were, a pillar of fire illuminating
the darkness of general ignorance.

"How to Handle the Rifle" appeared in Sep-
tember, 1866 (the second year of Keioj. The signal
victory of the Choshu clan in the battle against the
Bakufu had been gained chiefly by rifles. Having
heard of this, Mr. Fukuzawa thought that the rifle
would after a few years come into general use.
Fortunately he found an English book "On the Use
of the Rifle." He was eager to translate it, but he
was not equal to the task ; for, though born in a
military class, he had never even seen a rifle and
consequently had no idea about the use of fire-arms.
But fortunately a younger brother of his wife was
then learning the art of firing the rifle. Mr. Fuku-
zawa had this youth bring his rifle, and, by the aid
of directions in the book, he took the rifle to pieces
and again put it together. After he had in this way
obtained a practical knowledge of the rifle, he
immediately set to work to translate the book. As
this little book supplied a need of the time, many
thousand copies of the translation were sold. About
twenty years later when the translator met at the
Koishikawa arsenal Major-general Murata,' the in-
ventor of- the- celebrated "Murata rifle," the latter

XIII Mr. FUKUZAWA AS A WKfTER. 93

said to him, "In my youth when I began to learn
gunnery, I got much instruction from your work
" How to Handle the Rifle."

During the two years ending in August, 1869
(the second year of Meiji), the following books were
brought out : A Guide to Travelling in the Western
Countries ; The Eleven Treaty Powers ; Clothes,
Food, and Utensils in the West ; Elements of Physics
Illustrated ; the Western Tactics ; A Bird's Eye View
of the Nations in the World ; The Intercourse be-
tween China and England ; the English Parliament ;
the World's Geography.

Two of these may be singled -out as worthy of
special mention.

Elements of Physics Illustrated, which was
published in the autumn of 1868, is a translation of
some English and American authors ; but the il-
lustrations therein are all taken from things Japanese,
and the phraseology is extremely easy. It is the
first book of the kind written in such simple Japanese;
so that it was very extensively read. Perhaps there
has never been in Japan any other book which has
contributed so much to popularize the principles of
physics. Speaking of the reasons for writing this
work, the author says, "When the country was opened

94 --f UFE OF Mr. VUKICHI FUKUZAWA. CHAP-

to foreign intercourse, it was an ardent desire with
us, scholars of Western learning, to convert the
masses of the people to progressive principles. As
champions of the Western civilization, we endeavored
to demonstrate the real merits of its fundamental
principles as well as to expose the weaknesses of
Chinese doctrines. We tried every means in our
power for this purpose and none was more effectual
than to persuade the ignorant by teaching them the
principles of physics which do not admit gainsaying.
It seems to me that every man young or old who,
having once read a book on physics or having heard
its principles explained, believes the truths of the
science from the bottom of his heart must become a
thorough devotee to Western knowledge and can
never return to the old faith in Chinese doctrines.
This having been proved by our experience, we
determined to instruct the masses of the people in
the principles of physics as the first means of winning
them to our cause. But as it was a thing never
dreamed of to make the innumerable people stud)'
the science in the original languages, the only way
left us was to provide them with translations.
There had, indeed, been publishsd some transla-
tions on physics before this time ; but they were too

XIII Mr. FUKUZAWA AS A WRITEK. 95

elegant and difficult in style for common people.
These reasons induced me to translate this work."

The "World's Geography" was published in the
spring of 1869 (the second year of Meiji). The
author's purpose being to "make all the people as
familiar with the names and situations of the
countries in the world as they are with those of the
provinces in their own country," it was written in a
style suited to general readers. Consequently it was
read very extensively, earnest readers being found
especially among school-boys.

"Encouragement of Learning" in seventeen
volumes was published one volume after another
between the spring of 1872 (the fifth year of Meiji)
and November, 1876 (the ninth year of Meiji). The
principles maintained in the work being quite new to
the Japanese, it had so wide a circulation that no
less than 220,000 copies of the first volume were
sold. In this work Mr. Fukuzawa attacked the
errors of Chinese doctrines and for the first time
clearly and boldly advocated the essential principles
of the Western civilization. Mere forms of the
\Vestern civilization were treated in his previous
works ; this work was a gospel of its essence and
spirit. He taught that "Heaven does not make one

96 / LfFK OF Mr. \ f UK 1C HI FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

man above another nor one man under another. All
men are born equal in rank and rights ; " that the
difference in their circumstances is caused mainly by
their learning or ignorance ; learning is the only way
to wealth and honor. "Heaven does not give
wealth and honor to men but to their merits."
But by learning he does not mean the knowledge of
difficult words and verse-making which were over-
estimated by Chinese scholars, but such knowledge
as has close relations with practical life. The
government being a mere representative of the
people, its officials have no right to look down on the
people. Individual liberty is sacred and inviolable^
" If, therefore, officials interfere with this right, the
people must remonstrate with them." Mr. Fuku-
zawa attacks despotic rule which is a characteristic
of Confucianists, on the ground that it makes the
people helpless and irresponsible. Individual inde-
pendence is the foundation of national independence
and prosperity. In deploring the helplessness and
servility of the people in general he says, " Having
been oppressed by despotism during hundreds of
years, our countrymen have become servile, ignorant,
helpless, dishonest, and destitute of a spirit of
independence and honor. They have almost no

XIII Mr. f-UKUZAWA AS A WRITER. yj

interest in affairs of the state. They do not know
how to assert their own rights ; and they rely upon
the government in every thing. Even those who are
professedly trained according to the principles of
Western civilization almost all of them are busy
with hunting for places and do not even try private
undertakings. They well know how to act as rulers
but are quite incapable of acting as private citizens.
They are not free from the evils which pertain to the
Chinese system. They are, so to speak, Confucian-
ists clad in the external garb of Western civilization.
It can be safely said that there is in Japan only the
government and that there is no nation. Promoting
Japan's civilization, maintaining her independence,
leading this helpless nation, realizing their rights, and
removing the evils of the Old Japan all this is the
mission left to us (Mr. Fukuzawa and his followers).
It is our resolve to act the part of social reformers.
Let us be up and doing." How great were the
impressions made upon the people by these sugges-
tions it would be difficult to overestimate. Mr.
Fukuzawa thus sowed the seeds which subsequently
matured into the agitations for extending the people's
rights. To him is owed the honor of being the very
first advocate of the people's rights. While thus

98 A LIFE OF .Mr. YUKICIIl FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

urging the people's rights, Mr. Fukuzawa did not
neglect teaching the inviolability of state laws.
He emphasizes the duty of the people to obey the
government and national laws, and speaks of the
wrong of private punishment and of the assassination
of political opponents. In the way of illustration, he
criticises the vengeance of the famous forty-seven
ronins of Akao on the enemy of their dead lord.
Avenging the death of one's master or father by
killing his enemy had for centuries been recognized
by public opinion as morally right and even
laudable. At certain periods murder of this kind
had even been permitted under government license.
One who had avenged the death of his master or
father had been universally admired. Special admira-
tion, even adoration, was accorded to the rdnins of
Akao. Consequently Mr. Fukuzawa's argument was
extensively regarded as sacrilege. Another argument,
however, occasioned still greater popular excitement.
Speaking of the proper attitude to be taken by a
people in case their government becomes extremely
tyrannical, Mr. Fukuzawa says, "The people must
not stoop to such a government, but at the same
time it is not advisable to resist it by force. The
best way left for patriots is individually to remon-

XIII Mr. FUKUZAWA AS A WRITER. gg

strate against the tyranny, determined to die martyrs.
The death of a martyr is truly worth death. But
so-called 'Loyal Retainers,' much talked of in Japan,
are not martyrs. They did not fight for the sake
of social well-being, but for their master's interests.
Some of them died simply in a war between two
imperial dynasties which were contending for supreme
power, and their death did not contribute anything
to the advancement of civilization. They died in vain.
They may be likened, so far as their mode of death
is concerned, to an honest servant who, having lost
on the way of an errand a sum of money entrusted
him by his master, has killed himself as an apology
to his master. In my judgment Sogoro Sakura* is

* S6gord Sakura was a village head in the clan of Sakura in the
province of Shim&sa who lived about two hundred and fifty years ago.
The lord of Sakura being an imbecile, the clan administration was in the
hands of some knavish officials, who, in order to enrich themselves,
increased the weight of taxes to such an extravagant extent that the
peasants were driven to the verge of starvation. Sogoro, who was a
public-spirited and chivalrous man, determined to risk life, and all that
was dear to him, to relieve the sufferings of his fellow-peasants. He, in
conjunction with the heads of all the other villages in the clan, repeatedly
petitioned the clan authorities for abatement of the rate of taxes but in
vain. He, then, proceeded to Yedo and presented to the Shogun a
memorial protesting against the tyranny of his lord. Even to protest
was at that time a capital offence. Hence, S6goro was crucified and his
four children were decapitated in the presence of a multitude of
sympathizing spectators. But his protest had the des-red effect : the
burdens of his fellow-peasants were lightened.

ioo //,//'/: o I' Mr. YVKZCtttfV&UZAWA. CHAP.

the only martyr in Japan." This argument was
exceedingly shocking to his countrymen who consider
loyalty to the Imperial house as the culmination of
virtue. Since the people interpreted his argument
as applicable to the much glorified death of Masa-
shige Kusunoki,** the ideal type of loyalty, it was
considered a gross insult to the loyalty and patriotism
of the Japanese. Popular indignation became
intense. Most of the Tokyo newspapers assailed
Mr. Fukuzawa with bitter adverse criticism, and he
was often spoken of as a "traitor." Towards the
close of 1874 (the seventh year of Meiji), attacks and
slander reached their climax and he was deluged with

** At the beginning of the reign of the Emperor Go-Daigo (who
reigned 1319 1339), the throne and the nation were alike trampled
under foot by the Hqjo " Regent " at Kamakura. The Emperor under-
took to overthrow the military usurpation at Kamakura and a number
of loyal patriots came to his help. Among them Masashige Kusunoki,
also called Nanko, is most celebrated. His military valor and his
unswerving loyalty to the throne inspired many warriors to loyal
exertions and in consequence the Imperialists gradually increased in
power, until they were able, in 1333, to destroy the Hqjo family. But the
Emperor was not destined long to enjoy in peace his supreme power.
Takauji Ashikaga, who desired to become shogun and to usurp supreme
power, raised a standard of rebellion and mustered a large army. At
the head of this army, he marched against Kyoto. Kusunoki proposed
to the Emperor an ingenious plan of operations, but unfortunately it
was rejected and his advice ignored. He was compelled to bear the
brunt of battle against overwhelming forces at Minatogawa, near Hyogo,

XIII Mr. PUKUZAWA AS A WRITER. 101

letters of menace. Even many of his friends advised
him publicly to renounce his opinion. He was
constantly exposed to the imminent risk of assassina-
tion. He thereupon wrote to one of the most
important Tokyo newspapers, the Clioya Shimbun,
under an assumed name, a long article in which he
most eloquently defended his former argument.
This defence proved effective, and popular clamor
gradually subsided.

In 1872 (the fifth year of Meiji), the lunar
calendar was abolished and the Gregorian system
adopted by the government ; but the people in
general did not know the reasons for the change.
Then Mr. Fukuzawa wrote "On the Change of the

and was there hopelessly defeated. He and a little band of personal
followers killed themselves rather than surrender. Then Ashikaga
entered the Imperial capital with a large force and the Emperor was
obliged to seek safety in flight. Thereupon Ashikaga set an Imperial
prince on the throne and he himself assumed real sovereignty. But as
Go-Daigo continued to be recognized by many as the rightful sovereign,
the Imperial power was split into two rival branches, called the Southern
(legitimate) and the Northern (usurping) Courts.

Masatsura, the son of Masashige, and some other loyal patriots
endeavored to restore the power of the Southern Court ; but after sixty
years of strife and misery, the Northern Court triumphed in 1392, the
representative of the Southern dynasty handing over to it the Imperial
regalia. Go-Daigo died early in the struggle.

Masashige Kusunoki is held in admiring remembrance to this
day by his grateful countrymen as the model of loyalty and patriotic
devotion.

102 / LIFE OF Mr. Yl.'A'fCI/f FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

Calendar" giving an explanation for the change. It
was a very small book consisting of about ten pages
and only six hours were spent in writing it. The
price was a few sen per copy. It sold so well that
two or three months later the net profit amounted to
over 700 yen. The meditations thereby suggested
to the author he himself records : "I am surprised
that six hours' labor should earn 700 yen \ Is it
right for a scholar to get so large an amount for so
little labor? " Further sale during two or three more
months brought the total income of the author from
this little pamphlet up to 1,500 yen. In February,
1873 (the sixth year of Meiji), he translated a work-
on book-keeping the very first book of the kind
ever published in Japanese. He says, ''Among my
works this one gave me the greatest amount of
trouble and pains." This work was followed by the
"Art of Public Speaking" to which reference has
been already made.*

In March, 1875 (the 8th year of Meiji), appeared
"On Civilization," which sets forth the true signifi-
cance of civilization and gives a brief history of
civilization in Europe and in Japan. Most of the

* See the chapter on the Keio Gijuku.

XIII Mr. FUKUZAWA AS A WRITER. 103

views are derived from Buckle's and Guizot's works
on the history of civilization in Europe. Later
works published by Mr. Fukuzawa were : "Advice to
Scholars ; " " On Decentralization " published in
November, 1876; ''Political Economy, for General
Readers" (November, 1877); "Miscellaneous Essays"
(January, 1878); "On Currency" (April, 1878): "On
the People's Rights, for General Readers" (April,
1 878) ; "On the Power of the State, for General
Readers" (July, 1878); "A Suggestion for Political
Reform" (July, 1879) ; "About Current Events" (July,
1881) ; "The Course of Events" (1882); and "On the
Imperial Court" (May, 1882).

With the exception of " Political Economy,"
" Miscellaneous Essays," and " On Currency," the
above works were written with the view to re-establish
harmony between the government and the people,
or rather disaffected politicians and scholars, between
whom bitter antagonism had arisen.

Since the adoption of a progressive policy, the
government had been busy with political and social
improvement. The measures adopted by the gov-
ernment did not, however, satisfy political enthusi-
asts. After it was proposed by Mr. (afterwards
Count) Itagaki and others to open a national as-

io 4 .\ LIFE OF Mr. YUKICHI Fl-KUZAU'.l. CHAP.

sembly, zealous politicians began, both through the
press and on the platform, to demand an extension
of the people's rights. Exasperated by this agita-
tion, the government adopted repressive measures
against the agitators. A bitter antagonism thus
rapidly developed between the government and the
professed champions of the people's cause. The con-
tention became most embittered in the years 1875-6
(eighth and ninth of Meiji). With a view to bring
about a better understanding and to re-establish
harmony between the parties to the strife, Mr.
Fukuzawa wrote "Advice to Scholars" and "On
Decentralization." In the former work, he assured
those who sought to secure the people's rights that
the government also shared their progressive views.
He reproached them for attacking the government
merely because they vainly coveted positions in it.
He added that the duties, activities, and opportuni-
ties of educated men were not confined to politics ;
but that industry, commerce, private enterprises of
every kind demanded with equal urgence the atten-
tion of such men. In his work " On the People's
Rights, for General Readers," he said that the rights
of the people could not be realized without general
advancement. He advised the champions of the

XIII Mr. fUKUZAMA AS A WKITEK. 105

people's cause to gain independent livelihood and to
conduct themselves well, before they advocated the
people's rights. In " A Suggestion for Political
Reform " (July, 1879), he said that both progressive
and conservative principles were indispensable to the
attainment of true political progress ; that the only
hope to preserve national peace lay in adopting a
constitutional government similar to that of England
where administration is in the hands of a party
cabinet.

The work last mentioned was speedily followed
by a lengthy article on the " Necessity of Opening a
National Assembly" which was inserted in a disguised
style in the " leader " columns of the Hochi Shimbun.
The article was published in successive parts which
continued for about twelve days, beginning July 29,
1879. Soon after the appearance of this article,
owing either to it or to a remarkable coincidence,
almost every newspaper in Tokyo began to discuss
the same question. Even the provincial press took
up the discussion with surprising energy. Gradually
the proposal enlisted the enthusiasm of every patriot,
until in the beginning of the following year, a
memorial supported by over 80,000 men was pre-
sented to the government, petitioning it to open a

106 A LIFE OF Mr. YUKICHI FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

national assembly. The demand of the people for
the establishment of such an assembly continued
until the government (Oct., 1881) declared by procla-
mation that an Imperial Diet should be opened in
1890.

In July, r 88 1, when the national excitement
over the proposal to establish a national assembly
reached its culminating point, Mr. Fukuzawa pub-
lished " About Current Events" in order to divert the
attention of the people from the overwrought
agitation. In this work, he blamed the people for
their excessive zeal in pressing political demands,
and reminded them of the greater importance of
promoting national wealth and power. If the people
should continue their struggle against the govern-
ment, the independence of the Empire might be
endangered by foreign aggressions. He, therefore,
advised the political enthusiasts to exert themselves
for the strengthening of national power. He added :
"We have a fable to the following effect. A top-
shell hid himself in his shell, considering himself
quite comfortable and beyond the reach of harm.
But while he was thus enjoying himself, he suddenly
heard outside an unusual noise. Putting his head
out of the shell, he looked about and, to his great

XIV Mr. FUKUZAWA AS A JOURNALIST. 107

surprise, found himself with his shell on live coals.
The country being a shell to us, we must not forget
for a moment to protect it against foreign aggression.
The struggle for existence is raging even in the
so-called ' civilized countries.' Unless we are on
guard, the calamity of the top-shell might befall us.
I. regret that the public are too enthusiastic with the
proposal for opening a national assembly to pay
any attention to this matter."

CHAPTER XIV.
MR. FUKUZAWA AS A JOURNALIST.

THE necessity to the progress of Japan of an
independent and impartial journal led Mr. Fuku-
zawa in the spring of 1882 (Meiji 15) to start they/)V
Shimpo. During about fifteen years after its estab-
lishment, he wrote most of its leading articles ; and
those written by his sub-editors were either written
at his suggestion or revised by him. The editorial
staff was almost exclusively recruited from the
graduates of the Keio Gijuku. Mr. Fukuzawa then
trained them in both style and thought specially for
the work.

Mr. Fukuzawa possessed exceptional ability and
many special qualifications for the work of journalist.

io8 .-/ f.ff-'E Ol<' Mr. YUK1CHI FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

His disregard of rank and titles, his impartiality and
spirit of independence, his boldness in expressing
his views, his thoughts which were always in advance
of those of his age, his power of accurate and minute
observation which gave him a keen insight into the
actual state of things, his sound common sense, his
learning which was very broad, though perhaps not
very profound, his power of generalization, his strong
and vivid imagination, and his unrivalled style all
these combined made him an ideal journalist. The
Japan Daily Advertiser says, '* For vigor and clear-
ness, as well as for the power of homely and telling
illustration, the editorial columns of the Jiji Shimpd
of which he (Mr. Fukuzawa) was the guiding spirit,
have been hardly matched by any other journal of
any land, not even excepting the Neiv York Tribune
in the best days of Horace Greely."

The /iji Shimpo has had no connection with
any political party. It is impartial and independent in
its views, and consequently it has great influence with
people of every class. Among the leading Japanese
journals, it has the largest circulation and the greatest
influence. The Kobe Chronicle is quite right in saying,
"This journal (the Jiji Shimpd} has been sometimes
compared with the London Times. We venture to

XIV Mr. FUKUZAWA AS A JOURNALIST. 109

say that for impartiality, broad-mindedness, and a
keen sense of right and justice, the /iji Shimpd under
the editorship of men trained by the Sage of Mita is
far and away the superior of the London journal,
which in some respects is narrow in the extreme.
It is to the honor of the//// Shimpd that it has never
hesitated to take the unpopular side."

Most of the leading Japanese journals represent
special interests. Some of them deal principally
with politics and others with business. Some jour-
nals attach special importance to literary matters.
Consequently they find subscribers only in particular
circles. The Jiji Shimpo, on the other hand, is
many-sided. In its columns, almost every subject
receives discussion which is proportioned to its im-
portance. Politics, finance, industry, commerce,
scientific discoveries and inventions, art, literature,
even sports, all receive clear and concise treatment.
It combines in itself the merits of all other journals,
so that any person of any class can find something
of interest to him in it.

The Jiji Shimpd, unlike most other papers,
exercises great prudence in publishing news of a
purely personal nature. Slander or even a semblance
of it is never found in its columns : so that one who

uo A LIFE OF Mr. YUKICHI FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

takes only this journal need expect no information
about personal or social scandals. Mr. Fukuzawa
used to say to its editors, " You have the liberty to
\vrite your opinion about any subject. But when
criticizing individuals, you must not write any thing
but what you dare say in their presence. You must
abstain from slander, for that does not become an
honorable gentleman."

No other journal has contributed so much to
the progress of Japanese civilization. It has made
contributions in every field of activity, but its efforts
have been directed primarily to the reform of cus-
toms and manners. It has rendered a most im-
portant service in breaking down a highly injurious
evil of long standing : viz., an excessive regard for
public office and a corresponding disdain for private
citizens and for private occupations. In national
emergencies, it has acted the part of arbitrator
between antagonistic parties. As the champion of
greater rights, privileges, and opportunities for wo-
men, both in the family and in the society, and in
its multiform and effective encouragement of in-
dustry and commerce, it has rendered its most
distinguished services.

XIV Mr. FUKUZAWA AS A JOUKXALfST. in

Below arc given the titles of the books written
by Mr. Fukuzawa after the establishment of his
journal. They were inserted, with one or two
exceptions, as leading articles in his journal before
they appeared in book form.

On the Moral Training of Young Men :

November, 1882 (Meiji 15).
On Military Extension : November, 1882.
On the Independence of Education from

the State : February, 1883.
On General Conscription : 1884.
On Foreign Intercourse, for General Read-
ers : June, 1884.
On Japanese Women : 1885.
On Men's Ways to Live in the World :

December, 1885.
On the Intercourse between Men and

Women: June, 1886.
On Japanese Men : February, 1888.
On the Revering of the Emperor.
The Future of the Imperial Diet.
The Cause of the Conflict Between the
Government and the Imperial Diet :
1891.
A Word about Public Peace.

A LIFE OF Mr. YUKIC HI FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

On the Land Tax.

Some Suggestions to Business Men : April,
1893.

" On Military Extension " was intended by
Mr. Fukuzawa to call public attention to the imper-
fect state of the Japanese army and navy. This he
did by comparing them with the armies and navies
of the chief Western powers. Extension of both
army and navy was advocated in order to maintain
the prestige of Japan. Since this would require
increased taxation, Mr. Fukuzawa advised the gov-
ernment to give appointments to distinguished
champions of popular rights in order to win popular
sympathy. In December, 1883, after a law estab-
lishing general conscription was promulgated, ap-
peared an essay of moderate length, " On General
Conscription," explaining the reasons and advantages
of the law. In the same year appeared "On Foreign
Intercourse, for General Readers." In this work the
evils of extra-territorial jurisdiction in Japan were
emphasized, and he earnestly advised his countrymen
to endeavor to have the foreign settlements abolished
and the power to fix the rates of customs duties
restored to the Japanese government.

XIV Mr. FUKUZAWA AS A JOURNALIST. 113

In " Men's Ways to Live in the World," Mr.
Fukuzawa attacked the folly of place-hunting. Quite
extraordinary honor was still associated with official
positions. Hence every ambitious youth sought to
serve the government, while commerce, industry,
private enterprises of all kinds were almost entirely
neglected by men of ability. Accordingly, this
pernicious custom, which was so characteristic of
feudal Japan, was vigorously attacked by our earnest
reformer. He insisted that the life of a government
official is not worthy of the ambition of an energetic
youth, that private enterprises afford him more ample
scope for useful activity and offer greater rewards for
successful achievement. In this connection, he tried
to correct the false idea of his countrymen about
money. In feudal times, honest poverty had been
considered by the military classes as one of the
primary virtues. Their disregard of money more
than anything else distinguished them from other
social classes. After the Meiji Restoration, this idea
still prevailed among the educated classes, who
regarded money with something like the contempt
of the old samurai. Persons who belonged to the
upper classes did not consider it bad to spend more
than one earns, nor were they ashamed of debt.

1 14 A LIFE OF Mr. YUKICIII FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

Mr. Fukuzawa endeavored to correct this false idea.
He sometimes even asserted that money is everything
and that those who cannot make wealth by honest
means cannot be called wise men. In '* Men's
Ways to Live in the World" he says : " As civiliza-
tion advances, money becomes more and more
powerful. It is mightier than any thing else.
Where money is there is glory and honor. My
countrymen, you must exert yourselves with all your
strength to make money, in order that the fountain
of national power may be deepened." In an essay
written about the same time, the following passage is
found : " So long as we live in this world, money is
the most important thing. It is money that enables
us to provide ourselves with clothes, food and dwell-
ings. It is by money that we can support our families.
Without money we can not enjoy home pleasures.
Intercourse with friends can be kept only by money.
We need money for charity, and indeed for every
other purpose. Money is, in truth, the mother of
independence." Mr. Fukuzawa not only wrote but
also frequently spoke of the power and importance of
money. The present author who had then just
entered the Kei6 Gijuku was much surprised to hear
him say in the course of a speech delivered in the

XIV Mr. PUKUZAWA AS A JOURNALfST. 115

Keio Gijuku auditorium : " Regarded from the
economic point of view, a society is composed mainly
of two classes ; that is, a productive and an unproduc-
tive class. Government officials, lawyers, clergymen,
scholars, statesmen, teachers and the like form the
unproductive class. This class is not so important to
a poor country like Japan as the other class which is
composed of merchants, manufacturers and farmers.
Suppose that the men belonging to the unproductive
class died all at once, would Japan then suffer greatly?
No, not at all. She could do quite as well without
them." How revolting this argument was to my
thoughts ! I was not alone in thinking unfavorably
of his opinion about wealth. At one time, this view
of wealth made him quite unpopular. Many scholars
considered him a worshipper of mammon and heaped
reproaches upon him. But they were quite wrong in
their judgment. The fact is that none of them was
so far from being a mammon worshipper as Mr.
Fukuzawa was. He emphasized the value of money
merely with a view to correct pernicious misconcep-
tions of it, and to impress upon his countrymen the
dignity of private occupations and independence. If
he apparently exaggerated the importance of money,
it was doubtless due to a belief that extreme views

nfi A UPE OF Mr. YUKICHI FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

would be most effectively combated by a forcible
presentation of the opposite extreme for there can
be no doubt that the misconceptions which he sought
to correct had given rise to real and serious evils. A
clearer conception of his object and meaning has
since transformed aversion into affection, and only a
few of the hopelessly narrow and persistently blind
now reiterate the once common charge of debasing
materialism. Meanwhile the truths which he sought
to impress have been very generally accepted by the
Japanese nation.

" On Japanese Women," " On Conduct," " In-
tercourse between Men and Women," and " On
Japanese Men " were all written to emancipate
women from the restraints of the old-fashioned code
of morality. By Confucians and Buddhists women
are considered physically and mentally much inferior
to men ; and moralists of the Chinese school taught
the woman absolute submission, not only to her
husband, but also to her parents-in-law and even,
when old, to her children. The woman had no
property of her own ; she had no responsibility ; she
had no power in her home ; and consequently her
social standing was very low. The house which she
inhabited belonged to her husband ; the children she

XIV Mr. FUKUZAWA AS A JOURNALIST. 117

bore were his : she was, so to speak, a parasite of her
husband's house. Furthermore, social intercourse
between men and women hardly existed ; and second
marriage of young widows was discouraged by public
opinion. On the other hand, Confucian moralists
taught nothing about the duties of a man to his wife.
Consequently men were generally licentious and were
indifferent towards their wives. If a man's wife bore
him no child, he might with propriety keep con-
cubines ; for, according to the Confucian view, the
chief function of marriage was to produce an heir for
the man. Furthermore, men husbands included
might with little impropriety and less secrecy
visit geisha. The resulting evils were, in the
works of Mr. Fukuzavva just cited, impressively
presented. Other social reformers there have been
and are, but they lacked the courage to attack these
abuses. It is greatly to the honor of Mr. Fukuzawa
that he was the first writer intelligently and en-
thusiastically to advocate reform along these lines.
He asserted that women are the equals of men in
natural faculties ; that women should be treated as
helpmates of men not as their playthings ; that the
gradual degeneration of the Japanese race in stature
and physique is owing principally to the fact that

n8 A LIFE OF Mr. YUKICfll FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

women have become weak in mind and body in
consequence of the circumstances just mentioned :
and he proposed to give them more power and
responsibility, the right of property, more pleasure,
and to make social intercourse between the sexes
more frequent.

CHAPTER XV.

LATER YEARS.

IN recognition of the services of Mr. Fukuzawa as
an educator and as a writer, the Japanese govern-
ment in 1888 (Meiji 21) offered to confer upon him
the degree of Doctor of Literature ; but he declined
the honor. Again in 1890, when the Imperial Diet
was established, he was offered a life appointment as
a member of the Upper House. This appointment
he likewise declined.

Dr. Kitazato, who is now a famous bacteriolo-
gist, returned to Japan in 1892, after completing a
course of study in bacteriology under Dr. Koch in
Germany. He was eager to establish an institution for
the investigation of infectious diseases ; but, as he

XV LATER YEARS. ng

was then an unknown bacteriologist, he could find
no one to provide the necessary funds. When Mr.
Fukuzawa heard of this, he sympathized with him
and offered to help him in his undertaking. Accord"
ingly Mr. Fukuzawa built at his own expenses a large
building for the purpose and even promised to supply
the money required for conducting the scientific
investigations. This institution gradually developed
and is now supported by the government under the
presidency of Dr. Kitazato. Dr. Kitazato says, " If
Mr. Fukuzawa had not helped me in my enterprise,
I doubt if bacteriology would have been so developed
in Japan as it now is. Therefore he may be called,
not merely my helper, but also the promoter of
bacteriology in Japan."

In 1893 a bronze statue of Mr. Fukuzawa, life size
in a sitting posture, was completed. The artist was
Mr. Ujihiro Okuma who, it is said, spent three years
on the work. The cost of the statue was about 3,000
yen, and was paid by Mr. Obata, Mr. Fukuzawa's first
pupil and later co-worker, and other disciples. The
unveiling ceremony was performed, in the presence of
many Keio Gijuku alumni, at the Keio Gijuku hall,
October 2gth, 1893. Mr. Fukuzawa read an address
at the meeting, the gist of which is as follows :

tx> A LIFE OF Mr. YL'KTCHI FUKUZAU'A. CHAP.

" To speak frankly, I am naturally devoid of vanity and do not think
so much of acquiring fame as other people do. It is but little matter with
me whether I shall leave an honored memory after my death. I do not
care for adornment of any kind and so it makes no difference to me
whether a statue is made in my memory or not. When it was proposed
to make this statue, many times did I tell Mr. Obata and other gentlemen
that it would be waste of money and that they had better contribute so
much money to the funds of this school of ours. Yet you persisted in
your proposal and this beautiful statue has been finished. I think you
have some special motive in this. I dare suppose that this statue has
been made not merely to preserve my likeness but principally for a
monument of the Keio Gijuku which is the embodiment of my spirit and
principles. If I am right in my guess, this statue may be called a repre
sentation of the Keio Gijuku. And so long as this statue exists, the Kei6
Gijuku must be kept in existence also. Thinking that the Keio Gijuku
will last for ever together with this statue, I shall leave no anxiety abou
the future of it. It is my earnest hope that the Keio Gijuku may become
the centre of learning and morals and that it may enable Japan to sur-
mount innumerable obstacles in her course of civilization."

In July, 1894, the Japan-China War broke out,
and the whole nation was in profound anxiety about
its issue. Then Mr. Fukuzawa's patriotic sentiments
reached the highest tide and he did his utmost for
his country. In the leading columns of the Jiji
Shijnpo, he earnestly advised his countrymen to fight
with all their energies and to support their govern-
ment in all its plans. These articles of the Jiji Shimpo
contributed much to the unanimous passing through
the Lower House of the revenue bill providing enor-
mous war funds. With Mr. Yeiichi Shibuxawa and
a few other distinguished men, he organixed a society

XV LATER YEARS. i

called Hokokukwai or the " Society for Repaying
the State's Blessings " whose object it was to raise
subscriptions from individuals in order to contribute
money to the war funds. They proclaimed their
intention throughout the Empire and set about to
collect contributions. The government was highly
pleased with their intention ; but public loan bonds
had been already issued by it for raising war funds
and some statesmen feared that this proposal might
diminish subscriptions for the bonds. They thought
that the promoters of the society had better exercise
their influence in persuading the people to purchase
the bonds. Count Inouye, though not then in office,
was an earnest advocate of this view. Mr. Fukuzawa
and other promoters of the society thought this
opinion reasonable. They therefore dissolved their
society and exerted themselves to assist the govern-
ment in placing the public loan. Mr. Fukuzawa,
however, contributed 10,000 yen to the war funds.

In August or September, 1895, the Emperor
offered Mr. Fukuzawa a peerage in recognition of his
past distinguished services to the state, but Mr.
Fukuzawa's democratic principles led him steadily to
decline the offer.

122 A LIFE OF Mr. YUKTCHT FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

On the twelfth of December, 1895, four hundred
and fifty followers and friends of Mr. Fukuzawa, in
accordance with a Japanese custom, gave a grand
banquet in honor of his sixty-first birth-day. His
sixty-first birth-day actually came on the same date
of the previous year, but its celebration had, on
account of the Japan-China War, been deferred. At
this happy gathering, Mr. Obata as representative of
the hosts read a congratulatory address, in which the
following passage is found : " Let us drink to the
health of Mr. Fukuzawa. Let us do so, not only as
his friends and followers, but also as Japanese citizens
for the sake of civilization in Japan."

In February, 1896, " Fukuzawa's Hundred
Essays " was published. It has been so eagerly read
by the public that it has gone through twenty-four
editions. Mr. Fukuzawa, it is said, began three or
four years earlier to write these essays. In this
work, his style and his thoughts are found at their
best, and it is undoubtedly his master work. Prof.
Dening's criticism of it, which appeared in the
Japan Weekly Mail of February 10, 1900, is given
in Appendix A.

" Complete Works of Fukuzawa " in five large
volumes was published in September, .1897. In

XV LATER YEARS. 123

February of the following year appeared " Mr. Fuku-
zawa's Talk on the Intercourse between Men and
Women ; " and in the following month was published
" Lessons for Young People." In the same year,
appeared " The Autobiography of Fukuzawa" which
was written by a short-hand writer at the dictation
of Mr. Fukuzawa. A considerable portion of the
present biography is based on material contained in
the Autobiography. It has reached its twenty-fourth
edition. Mr. Fukuzawa concluded his Autobiography
with these words : " There are three objects which I
desire to accomplish in my remaining years. The
first of them is to elevate the character of all the
Japanese, to make them worthy of the name of a
civilized nation ; the second is to encourage the
spread of Buddhism or Christianity and thus to
tranquillize the hearts of my countrymen ; and the
third is to help scholars in their study of profound
theories, physical or philosophical, by supplying them
with plenty of money. One, though old, ought not
to spend one's days in idle repose as long as one is in
good health. So I will do my best for the state as
long as I am healthy."

Mr. Fukuzawa's last work is " Criticisms of
Kaibara's Great Learning for Women and New

I2 4 A LIFE OF Mr. Y(JK'lCHf FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

Great Learning for Women " which was brought
out in February, 1899. He began to write it in the
middle of August, 1898, and completed it about
the twentieth of the following month. Kai-
bara was a famous moralist of the Chinese school
who lived almost two hundred years ago. Mis
" Great Learning for Women " is a summary of the
accepted opinions of his day on the status of women.
Some works previously* written by Mr. Fukuzawa
had been intended to give an impetus to a movement
in favor of the emancipation of women. They were,
however, much in advance of public opinion and
their immediate results were disappointing. The
" rights of women " were not greatly extended. On
this subject, public opinion remained exceptionally
conservative. It was loath to accept in theory or in
practice the suggested reforms, and was still es-
sentially embodied in the precepts of Kaibara.
Consequently Mr. Fukuzawa now made a direct and
vigorous attack on Kaibara's work. Every doctrine
it contained was subjected to a merciless and destruc-
tive criticism. Mr. Fukuzawa then concluded his
essay with precepts of his own for the position and

* These are " On Japanese Women," " On Conduct," " Intercourse
between Men and Women," and " On Japanese Men." See page 116.

XV LATER YEARS. 135

conduct of women, which he designated " New-
Great Learning for Women." This work has been
widely and eagerly read, especially by ladies. Effec-
tually as it destroyed the rational foundation of
Kaibara's doctrines, its practical influence neverthe-
less remains regrettably slight. It assailed institutions,
and ideas which are obviously and deeply rooted in
prejudice and custom rather than in reason. Their
reform ardently to be desired- must likewise be
effected by a gradual transformation of ideas and
customs.

On the afternoon of September 26, 1898, that is
about a week after the completion of his last work,
Mr. Fukuzawa, who had not known illness for many
years, was unexpectedly prostrated by cerebral
paralysis. His condition gradually became worse
until the night of October 5, when his physicians
declared, to the infinite sorrow of his family, friends
and followers, that no rational hope for his recovery
could be longer entertained. When the news of his
illness appeared in the newspapers, the whole nation
sank into profound anxiety. Numerous persons
called daily to inquire about his condition, and the
Keio Gijuku alumni of different localities sent repre-
sentatives to condole with his famjly. Their Majesties

126 A LIFE OF Mr. YUKKHI FUKUZAWA. CHAP

the Emperor and Empress and His Highness the
Crown Prince, as a token of deep sympathy with his
family, graciously presented them with some bottles
of wine and two boxes of cake. The Imperial
Household Department ordered a daily report of the
progress of the illness to be sent to Their Majesties.
The Emperor again offered to confer a decoration
upon Mr. Fukuzawa ; but his family, out of deference
to his well-known principles, declined the offer.
To the universal surprise and joy, the exceptional
vitality of Mr. Fukuzawa reasserted itself and his
wonderful reserve of physical energy tided him over
the crisis. About the middle of October, he was
able to leave his bed, and early in December he was
almost completely restored to health. On his next
birth-day, Dec. 12, about four hundred of his friends
and followers held a banquet at the Koyo Kzvan or
the " Maple Hall," in Shiba Park, to celebrate his
recovery ; and on the same day banquets for the
same purpose were given by the Keio Gijuku gradu-
ates in many towns throughout the Empire. But the
severe stroke had seriously impaired Mr. Fukuzawa's
mental vigor. His power of memory was most
affected. At times, he was unable even to recall the
names of his wife and children. Happily this mis-

XVI Mr. FUKUZAWA'S CODE OF MORALS. 127

fortune was only temporary, so that, after a few
months, he had again recovered much of his former
intellectual power.

CHAPTER XVI.
MR. FUKUZAWA'S CODE OF MORALS.

MR. Fukuzawa's health was not completely
restored before he began to devote himself to
the morals of his countrymen. Since her ports were
opened to foreign intercourse, Japan had made rapid
strides in science and art ; but the progress of morals
was discouragingly slow. The older generation of
Japanese was still dominated by the moral concep-
tions of the Chinese school. The younger generation
generally had little faith in these out-of-date doc-
trines and had assumed a skeptical attitude towards
all moral teachings. Deeply deploring this state of
things, our old reformer determined to supply his
countrymen with a code of morals that was suited to
the progress of the times. He accordingly undertook
to compile a code of practical ethics. In the execu-
tion of this work, he invited the co-operation of Mr.
Obata, President Kamada and Prof. Kadono of the
Keio Gijuku, and of Messrs. Ishikawa, Hibara and
his eldest son Mr. Ichitaro Fukuzawa. By the aid

128 A LIFE OF Mr. YUKICHl WKUZAWA. CHAP.

of frequent reference to his writings and speeches,
and after much discussion, they successfully presented,
in a small pamphlet, the main principles of his
ethics. These were, after careful examination and
some amendment by Mr. Fukuzawa, embodied in
twenty-nine moral precepts. On February ir, 1900,
they were finally adopted by Mr. Fukuzawa and his
collaborators, in the following form :

All those who are living in Japan, irrespective of sex or age, must
obey the Imperial Court of uninterrupted lineage, for there is none who
has not participated in its unbounded benevolence. This is a point about
which there is perfect unanimity of opinion throughout the realm. Com-
ing to another question of how the men and women of to-day should
behave themselves, I must say that diverse as have been from ancient
times codes of morals, it is evident that a code must conform itself to the
progress of the times, and that in a society like the present, characterized
as it is by ever-advancing civilization, there must be a code specially
suited to it. Hence it follows that the tenets of personal morals and
living must undergo more or less of a change.

1. Everybody must make it his duty to act as a man and must
endeavor to elevate his dignity and to enhance his virtue. Men and
women of our fraternity must regard the principle of independence
and self-respect as the cardinal tenet of personal morals and living,
and by inscribing it deeply on their hearts must strive to discharge
the duties proper to man.

2. He is called a man of independence and self-respect who
preserves the independence of both mind and body, and who pays due
respect to his person in a way calculated to maintain the dignity
proper to man.

3. Working with an independent will and subsisting without
the help of others, is the essence of the independence of life : hence
it follows that a person of independence and self-respect must be an
independent worker besides being his own bread-winner.

XVI Mr. FUKUZAWA'S CODE OF MORALS. i2g

4. Taking care of the body and keeping it healthy is a duty
incumbent on us all by reason of the rules that govern human
existence ; both body and mind must be kept in activity and in
health and anything calculated to impair their health even in the
least degree must be rigidly avoided.

5. To complete the natural span of life is to discharge a duty
incumbent on man. Therefore, any person who, be the cause what
it may or be the circumstances what they may, deprives himself by
violence of his own life, must be said to be guilty of an act inexcu-
sable and cowardly, as well as mean, and entirely opposed to the
principle of independence and telf-respect.

6. Unless pursued with a daring, active and indomitable spirit,
independence and self-respect cannot be secured ; a man must have
the courage of progress and consistency.

7. A person of independence and self-respect must not depend
upon others in disposing of a question relating to his own personal
affairs, but must possess the ability with which to deliberate and
decide on it.

8. The custom of regarding women as the inferiors of men is a
vicious relic of barbarism. Men and women of any enlightened
country must treat and love each other on a basis of equality, so that
each may develop his or her own independence and self-respect.

g. Marriage being a most important affair in the life of man,
the utmost care must be exercised in selecting a partner. It is the
first essential of humanity for man and wife to cohabit till death
separates them and to entertain towards each other feelings of love
and respect, in such a way that neither of them shall lose his or her
independence and self-respect.

10. Children born of man and wife know no other parents but
their own, and in the same way the parents recognize no children
besides their own. The affection existing between parents and their
children is the purest kind of affection and the first preliminary of
domesiic felicity consists in not interfering with the free play of this
sentiment.

11. Children are also persons of independence and self-respect,
but while they are yet in their infancy their parents must take charge
of their education. The children on their part must, in obedience to

1 30 ./ LIFE OF Mr. YUKICHJ FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

the instructions of their parents, diligently attend to their work, to
the end that they may get well grounded in the knowledge of getting
on in society, after they have grown up into men and women of
independence and self-respect.

12. In order to act up to the ideal of persons of independence
and self-respect, men and women must continue, even after they have
grown up, to attend to their studies, and should not neglect to
develop their knowledge and to cultivate their virtue.

13. At first a single house appears, then several others grad-
ually cluster round it, and a human community is formed. The
foundation of a sound society must therefore be said to consist in the
independence and self-respect of a single person and a single family.

14. The only way to preserve a social community consists in
respecting and not violating, even in the least, the rights and the
happiness of others, while maintaining at the same time one's own
rights and one's own share of happiness.

15. It is a vulgar custom and unmanly practice unworthy ol
civilized people to entertain enmity towards others and to wreak
vengeance upon them. In repairing one's honor and in maintaining
it, fair means must always be employed.

1 6. Every person must be faithful to his business, and anybody
who neglects the duties of his state in life, irrespective of the relative
gravity and importance of such duties, cannot be regarded as a person
of independence and self-respect.

17. Every one must behave towards others with candor, for
it is by reposing confidence in others that one renders it possible
for them to confide in him, while it is only by means of this mutual
confidence that the. reality of independence and native dignity can be
attained.

1 8. Courtesy and etiquette being important social means for
expressing the sense of respect, they should not be ignored even in
the least degree ; the only caution to be given in this connection is
that both an excess and a deficiency of courtesy and etiquette should
be avoided.

19. It is a philanthropic act which may be regarded as a
beautiful virtue of man, to hold the sentiment of sympathy and

XVI Mr. FUKUZAWA'S CODE O? MORALS. 151

affection towards others, and so to endeavor not only to alleviate their
pains but also to further their welfare.

20. The sentiment of kindness must not be confined to men
alone, and any practice that involves cruelty to animals or any
wanton slaughter of them must be guarded against.

21. Culture elevates man's character while it delights his
mind, and as, taken in a wide sense, it promotes the peace of society
and enhances human happiness, therefore it must be regarded as an
essential requisite of man.

22. Whenever a nation exists there is inevitably a Government
which attends to the business of enacting laws and organizing
armaments with the object of giving protection to the men and
women of the counntry and of guarding their persons, property,
honor and freedom. In return for this, the people are under obliga-
tion to undergo military service and to meet the national expenditures.

23. It is a natural consequence that persons who undergo
military service and pay the national expenditure, should enjoy the
right of sitting in the national legislature, with the view of
supervising the appropriations for the national expenditures. This
may also be considered as their duty.

24. The Japanese people of both sexes must ever keep in view
their duty of righting with an enemy even at the risk of their life and
property, for the sake of maintaining the independence and dignity of
the country.

25. It is a duty of the people to obey the laws of the country.
They should go further and should attend to the duty of helping to
enforce those enactments, with the object of maintaining order and
peace in the community.

26. Many as are the nations existing on the earth with different
religions, languages, manners and customs, the people constituting
those nations are brethren, and hence no discrimination should be
made in dealing with them. It is against the principles of indepen-
dence and self-respect to bear/ one's self with arrogance and to look
down on people of a different nationality.

27. The people of our generation must fulfill the duty of hand-
ing down to our posterity and in an ameliorated form the national
civilization and welfare which we have inherited from our forefathers.

132 A LIFE OF Mr. YUKICHI FUh'UZAWA. CHAP.

28. There must be more or less difference in the ability and
physical strength of men born in this world. It depends upon the
power of education to minimize the number of the incompetent and
the weak, for education, by teaching men the principles of indepen-
dence and self-respect, enables them to find out and to develop the
means to put those principles into practice and to act up to them.

29. Men and women of our fraternity must not be contented
with inscribing on their own hearts these moral tenets, but endeavor
to diffuse them widely among the public at large, to the end that
they may attain the greatest possible happiness, they with all their
brethren all over the wide world.

At the end of February, the Code of Morals
was, by a formal ceremony in the auditorium of the
Keio Gijuku, presented to the teachers and the stu-
dents of the institution. Soon afterwards, it was
published in the Jiji Sliiinpo. A large number of
copies was printed separately and widely distributed.
Most of the newspapers and magazines throughout
the country inserted it, and commented on it gener-
ally favorably. Some conservative persons attacked
with vehemence special points in it. Most promi-
nent among those who assailed it was Ur. Inouye,
a professor in the Imperial University at Tokyo.
The most vigorous and obstinate objections raised by
such adverse critics were (i) against making indepen-
dence and self-respect the basis of morality, and (2)
against the idea that " a code of morals must
conform itself to the progress of the times/' But

XVI Mr. PUKUZAWA'S CODE OF MORALS. 133

the Code of Morals was eagerly welcomed by
scholars of progressive views.*

Encouraged by the reception accorded by the
public. to the Code of Morals, Messrs. Ichitaro Fuku-
zawa, Kamada, Kadono, Kitagawa, and some others
have since devoted much time to personal explana-
tion and advocacy of the doctrines therein contained.
For this purpose, they have travelled extensively in
various provinces, held conferences and delivered
public addresses in all the important towns along
their route. Most Japanese have perceived the
errors and imperfection of the old morals, and Mr.
Fukuzawa's ethics has begun already to gain their
warm approval.

The precepts contained in the Code of Morals
are not mere abstractions. They are generalizations
which embody the substance and spirit of Mr.
Fukuzawa's writings and addresses, and are especially
rules of practical conduct which he observed
throughout life. They are for his writings and his
life what Herbert Spencer's " Principles of Ethics "
is for his " Synthetic Philosophy." Their precise
formulation into a Code of Morals was an appropriate
crowning act for a beautiful life.

* See Appendix B.

I3 4 --/ LIFE OF Mr. YUKICHl FUKUZAWA. CHAI-.

In recognition of Mr. Fukuzawa's immense
services to the country, His Majesty the Emperor
presented him, May, IQOO, with 50,000 yen, which
he immediately transferred to the endowment funds
of the Keio Gijukti.

CHAPTER XVII.

DEATH.
N the evening of January 25, 1901, Mr. Fuku-

zawa was visited by a second stroke of cerebral
paralysis. Again the whole nation shared with his
"family and immediate friends the deepest anxiety.
Five days after the attack, Their Majesties the Em-
peror and Empress sent a messenger bearing presents
of cake and sympathetic inquiries concerning the
condition of the sufferer. Similar presents and
inquiries followed two days later from Their High-
nesses the Crown Prince and Princess. From the
beginning, the gravity of his illness was recognized,
but as the general symptoms did not differ materially
from those witnessed on the occasion of the first
attack, hope was not abandoned. On the afternoon
of the third of February, however, the patient's
strength declined rapidly. At the same time,

XVII DEATH. 135

action of the heart began to fail and at 10:50 p.m.
our venerable teacher breathed his last. He was
then in his sixty-eighth year.

From one end of the Empire to the other, the
sad news of Mr. Fukuzawa's death awakened feelings
of the deepest regret. Through the leading columns
of all journals in the Empire, the great national
sorrow received appropriate and impressive expres-
sion. In addition to messages of condolence, the
Imperial Court sent 1,000 yen towards the funeral
expenses. The House of Representatives unan-
imously passed a vote of condolence the first
honor of the kind ever conferred upon a Japanese
citizen. The administrative committee of the Con-
stitutional Association ( a political party represented
by a majority in the Lower House) and some
400 other organizations educational, political and
business likewise voted resolutions of condolence.
Various sums were contributed to the endowment
funds of the Keio Gijuku in honor of the deceased
educator. During the interval between the death
and the interment of Mr. Fukuzawa, the residents of
Mita draped their shops and houses in black as a
token of their sympathy and sorrow. Many of them
also closed their shops on the day of the funeral.

136 A LIFE OF Mr. YUKICH1 FUKUZAU'A. CHAI-.

It was announced that the bier should leave the
house at one o'clock on the eighth. Long before the
appointed hour it seemed as if all Tokyo were gather-
ing about the Mita Hill where the residence of the
deceased was situated. Assembled at the house and at
the school were multitudes, not only of eminent men
of the city, but also of delegates from every part of
the Empire who had hastened to Tokyo to pay the
last tribute of respect to their leader. Among those
assembled were some Ministers of State and no small
number of foreigners, including some Hindoos and
Koreans. The distance traversed by the enormous
procession on its way to Zempukuji (temple) is about
one mile. On either side, the entire route was lined
by dense masses of spectators. The students of the
Keio Gijuku, some seventeen hundred in number, led
by their military corps, did silent escort duty.
Following them came the simple but elegant bier
and then the great column of mourning friends, which,
massed eight deep, extended almost from the house
to the temple. There was not a carriage or jinriki-
sha in the funeral procession. In marked keeping
with the simplicity of the life thus honored in death,
as well as in accordance with the wishes of the
deceased, all the gaudy features of a Buddhistic

XVII DEATH. 137

funeral were omitted a fact which added to the
solemnity and impressivcness of the obsequies. The
spectators, with bared heads, observed the passing
column in respectful silence. At sight of the bier,
many women clasped their hands and burst into
sobbing. On arrival at the temple a simple but
impressive funeral ceremony \vas performed. The
procession again formed and attended the remains to
their last resting place, Hongwanji (temple), in Osaki
Village. There the last sad rites ended at half past
five o'clock, and all that was mortal of the great
teacher was appropriately left in the solitude of the
winter twilight.

Several incidents connected with the death and
burial of Mr. Fukuzawa aptly illustrate the vener-
ation which his character and work had inspired.

The students of Keio Gijuku University were
not willing to have the remains of their great teacher
borne to the tomb by hired laborers. They there-
fore earnestly begged that, instead of the customary
hired laborers, thirty of the strongest among their
own number should be selected to perform this service.
The affectionate thoughtfulness implied in this
proposal deeply moved the funeral committee. But,
lest some accident might happen if this course were

138 / UFE OF Mr. YUKICH1 FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

adopted, the proposal was with much reluctance-
rejected.

While the preparations for the funeral were being
made, a lady called at the residence of the deceased.
She revealed neither her name nor any other evi-
dence of her identity, but simply delivered to the
usher some daffodils and a branch of plum-blossoms
to be dedicated to the spirit of the deceased,
accompanied by a letter which read :

Tokyo, Feb. 8, 1901.
" To Mrs. Fokuzawa.
Dear Madame,

Having read the late Mr. Fukuzawa's excellent articles
in theyyt Skimfo written on behalf of the Japanese women, I thought
him a kind friend of women and regarded him with gratitude and re-
spect, although I had never the honor of personal aquaintance with him.

I am very sorry for his death: I feel, indeed, as if a relation of
mine had died. Inferring from my sorrow , how great the sorrow of
you and of your family must be, I sympathize with you !

I wish to dedicate the accompanying flowers to his spirit as a slight
token of my gratitude to him. Be so kind as to do so for me. I will
attend his funeral to-day.

It is my earnest prayer that his noble spirit may remain for ever
in this world to be a constant companion of the Japanese women.

Yours most cordially,

A Woman of Mita."

Two or three days after the death of Mr. Fuku-
/awa, the following letter was sent through the post
to his widow :

XVII DEATH. 139

" To Mrs. Fukuzawa Utsunomiya, February, 1901.

and
All her family.

Dear Mrs. Fukuzawa,

For the past several years my family and 1 myself
have been subscribers of the Jiji Shimpo ; and the excellent views of
the late Mr. Fukuzawa have so much influenced us that the several
youths in my store behave well and act on the principle of independence
and self-respect which was taught by the deceased teacher. I am much
obliged to him for this.

Furthermore, sympathizing with the Japanese women whose
status in society is low, Mr. Fukuzawa exerted himself for their cause ; on
account of which I regarded him with more gratitude and respect than
gods and Buddha.

I prayed that he should live even to a hundred years ; and what is
my sorrow and surprise at the intelligence of his death ! I sympathize with
you in your bereavement. I should like very much to attend his funeral,
but I am very sorry business prevents me from doing so. As a token of
my gratitude and sorrow, I write you this poor letter.

I hope that you will do your best in spreading the noble
teachings of the deceased teacher.

Yours most faithfully,

A Merchant Woman of

Utsunomiya."

Mr. Fukuzawa left at his death a wife and nine
children, of whom four are sons and five are daughters.
The eldest son Mr. Ichitaro has succeeded to his
father's estate, and is editor of the ///'/' Shimpo.

The second son Mr. Sutejiro is manager of the ///'/
Sliimpo. The third and fourth sons are students the
former in England and the latter in the Keio Gijuku.
The daughters are all married.

i 4 o \ I.fFE OF Mr. YUKKHT FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

CHAPTER XVIII.

PERSONAL APPEARANCE, HABITS,
AND CONDUCT.

MR. FUKUZAWA had an exceptionally pleasant
and commanding personal appearance. Five
feet nine inches tall, he was in stature much above
the average for Japanese. He had a large face, with
a prominent nose and a broad forehead. His firmly
set mouth and massive chin expressed determination
and decision of character. His large, lustrous, steady-
eyes indicated candor, intelligence, keen and active
powers of observation. He was of a strong constitu-
tion and rather corpulent, weighing about one
hundred and fifty pounds from his youth to his later
years. He had a thick beard but always kept it
closely shaven. He once said to a friend, " See how
large and sinewy my hands and feet are ! If I had
become a laborer, 1 should have led a happier life.
It may be a mistake in my life to have become a

scholar and to trouble myself so much."

Naturally he was very healthy and every care

was taken to preserve his vigor. He ate food veiy
slowly and never took anything between his regular
meals. Much of his time was devoted to physical

XVIII PERSONAL APPEARANCE, &c. 141

exercise. When he was a young man, he learned
iai or the art of drawing a long sword, in which
he attained considerable proficiency ; and in his later
years he often practised it for exercise. He rode
horse-back well, and during some years this was his
favorite exercise. Other forms of exercise frequently
resorted to by him were cutting fire-wood and
pounding rice in a mortar. Me was an early riser
and generally did not burn the midnight oil. Early
in the morning while his neighbors were still asleep,
he arose and walked in the fresh morning air. In
these walks, he went a few miles out into the suburbs,
wearing sandals, a big stick in hand, and accompanied
by two or three young students of the Keio Gijuku.
Before supper, he practised one of the other forms
of exercise above-mentioned, most frequently the
pounding of rice. He never allowed bad weather to
interfere with his exercise.

As already stated, Mr. Fukuzawa was very fond
of sake. After he came to Yedo, his income enabled
him' to indulge his taste for drink. He usually
drank in the morning, at noon, and in the evening.
He also welcomed any 'additional chance opportunity
to drink. But when he became thirty-two or thirty-
three years old, he thought that drinking so much

1 42 A LIFE OF Mr. YUKICH1 FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

would shorten his life. Accordingly he resolved
gradually to diminish his daily consumption of sake
until he might be able entirely to abstain from it.
At first he gave up his morning sake and next his
noon allowance ; but he experienced great difficulty in
abstaining from his evening sakt. He tried each
successive evening to drink less and less. His
appetite demanded more drink ; his will commanded
a smaller satisfaction. Thus there was a daily
struggle between desire and will, and three years
elapsed before he could entirely dispense with the
evening cup. Finally his tenacious will asserted
absolute sovereignty over desire, and in his later
years he never tasted a glass of sake or any other
liquor.

Unlike most Japanese gentlemen, he had no
taste for curios or objects of fine art, autographs or
paintings, architecture or gardening. Simple in his
dress and in furnishing his house, he hated anything
like luxury. It is said that if he found any article of
luxury in his house he would sell it and replace it
with a cheaper and coarser one. He held in con-
tempt the general usage of prizing the autographs
of famous scholars. Once he had a hanging scroll
made by one of his pupils who wrote a good hand ;

XVIII PERSONAL APPEARANCE, dry. 143

and he hung it on the wall of his parlor. He would
say to every visitor, " This scroll has no signature.
Whose performance do you think it is? " Supposing
that a man like Mr. Fukuzawa would hang up noth-
ing but the work of a celebrated caligrapher, the
visitor would admire it very much and add, " I sup-
pose the writer must be some famous Chinese or
Corean caligrapher." Mr. Fukuzawa would then
feel like laughing but would not confess the truth.
One day a number, of his friends happened to meet
at his house. Then he told the truth. They were
surprised and began to criticise the caligraphy, say-
ing, " This stroke is awkward. That is clumsy." He
said with laughter, " What critics you are ! You see
scrolls with the ear, not with the eye. If I had said
this was written by a famous ancient caligrapher, you
would surely have admired it." The guests were
struck dumb.

It was a characteristic of Mr. Fukuzawa that he
never troubled others about his personal affairs. He
swept and dusted his room. He went and purchased
his ink and paper. He polished his shoes and even
shaved himself. Sometimes he performed the duties
of his wife or servants. When he pounded rice for
exercise he was sure to sift the bran and to clean the

144 ' I- IFF- Of- M>: YUK1CHI FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

mortar. Me once had a valuable ink-stone* which
had been presented by a friend. He prized it very
much and did not allow his family to use it. He-
washed it every time it needed washing and never
allowed others even to touch it. It was a treasure
with him for many years. One clay while engaged
in writing he fell into a profound meditation. While
he was thus meditating, his eye caught the ink-stone
which needed cleansing. He called his maid-servant
and ordered her to take it away and wash it. While
washing the ink-stone the maid accidentally broke it.
She ran to him with it and in tears begged his
pardon. Then his spell of meditation was broken and
he much regretted the loss of his treasure. But not
a word of anger escaped his lips. He simply said to
her, " Never mind. This is the consequence of my
having asked you to wash it. 1 am to blame and not
you."

Mr. Fukuzawa was a beneficient man. When
Mr. (now Viscount) Buyo Enomotot was taken

* An ink-stone is a piece of hard stone with a hollow, used for
holding Japanese ink.

t Mr. Buyo Enomoto, who had learned in Holland the science
of naval war, was, at the time of the Meiji Revolution, commandant
of the naval fleet of the Bakufu. When the ex-Shogun Keiki had
surrendered the castle of Yedo to the Imperial army in April, i86S

XVIII PERSONAL APPEARANCE, &>c. 145

prisoner by the Imperial army and was about to be
executed, Mr. Fukuzawa tried every possible means
to save his life and at last had him set at liberty.
There are many other instances, in which he made
extraordinary exertions to help others. One summer
a student of the Keio Gijuku died. His parents were
poor and his home was very far from Tokyo, so that
none of his relatives were able to attend his funeral.
Two or three class-mates undertook preparations for
his funeral. When Mr. Fukuzawa heard of this, he
felt very sorry and offered to defray the entire
expenses. He also attended the funeral. His
benevolence seems to have increased with his years.
In his later years, whenever he went out for a walk-
he took with him a little change for beggars.

(See the chapter on the Meiji Restoration), Commandant Enomoto
was unwilling to yield. Accordingly, he, with some other naval
officers, sailed northward with eleven men-of-war. Proceeding to
Yezo, they captured the castle of Matsumaye ; and before long
a large portion of the island came under their rule. Over this
territory, they set up an independent government. The Emperor
despatched a fleet against them ; and warlike operations between
the rebels and the Imperial troops lasted till May, 1869, when
the rebels surrendered to the Imperial troops. Mr. Enomoto was
sent to Yedo and afterwards he was about to be executed, when
Mr. Fukuzawa came to his rescue. Many years later Mr. Enomoto
held an important office in the new government and was created a
peer.

146 A LIFE OF Mr. YUKICHI FUKUZAWA. CHAP

Very sociable and cheerful of disposition, Mr.
Fukuzawa was also rather talkative. He could talk-
pleasantly with anybody man or woman, young or
old. His breadth of knowledge and exceptional
common sense enabled him to speak on almost every
subject and to adapt his conversation to the capacity
of the fellow-talker. He maintained the same
attitude towards everybody, whether gentleman
or laborer, lady or maid-servant. He was not
only entertaining with his own speech and
skilful in leading the conversation, but he was also a
good listener. His sound judgment was in part
formed by listening to others talk. Mr. Obata
happily remarked, " Mr. Fukuzawa used people as
books." Mr. Fukuzawa had frequent visits from
persons representing almost every variety of tempera-
ment and occupation : lawyers, doctors, educators,
statesmen,' journalists, even laborers. In the course
of conversation with such visitors, he induced them
to speak of their specialities and questioned them
minutely on every topic that occurred to him. Thus
he was able to acquire a vast knowledge of various
subjects. By the application of his clear intellect to
the analysis and synthesis of what he had heard, he
would form quite original views. Consequently he

XVIII PERSONAL APPEARANCE, &t. 147

would later surprise those from whom he had received
his information by the superiority of his knowledge.

Mr. Fukuzawa was remarkable for his excellent
conduct. He never spoke of obscene things. He
never associated with women of ill repute. He did
not even know, as he says in his Autobiography,
where the Yoshiwara and other quarters for pros-
titutes were situated. His life in the home was
exemplary. He was a kind husband, a benevolent
father, a good-tempered grand-father, and a good
master. Musicians, story-tellers, and even actors
were invited to his house to perform ; and he enjoyed
their entertainments with his family. There was no
secret in his home. Equality and liberty were
realized by the members of his family, and all were
intimate and sympathetic friends. His home was a
miniature republic of which he was the president.
Indeed no home-life could have been simpler, purer,
more free, open or attractive. How he loved his
family is shown by the following fact. While his
eldest and second sons studied in the United States
of America, he wrote to them regularly once a week.
The total number of letters sent by him during their
stay of six years was over three hundred. It is said
that he wrote so minutely about the current events

148 A LIFE Of Mr. YUKICHI FUKUZAWA. CHAP.

in Japan as well as the incidents of his home, that his
sons on their return to Japan were as well informed
about the changes which had occurred during their
absence as if they had not been abroad. He was not
only a man of theory but also emphatically a man
of practice. Whatever he thought or said about
morals he practised. There was in Japan no one
better entitled to teach morals.

Since his motto was " independence and self-
respect " and since he thought that money is the
foundation of independence, Mr. Fukuzawa was very
careful about the use of money. He says in his
Autobiography, " There is nothing so hateful to me
as debt, except assassination. I am a great coward
with regard to money : I have not courage enough
to borrow it." He never during all his life borrowed
even a penny. He would have starved rather than
incur debt. He not only abhorred debt, but he also
hated to get money at the slightest sacrifice of his
self-respect. Soon after the Restoration, a great
merchant of Yokohama established a school in that
city, and its teachers were selected from among the
Keio Gijuku graduates. The merchant expressed to

XVIII PERSONAL APPEARANCE, &t. 149

Mr. Fukuzawa a desire to have him superintend the
school, but Mr. Fukuzawa was unwilling to accept
the offer. Mr. Fukuzawa's sons were still young
children, but it was his earnest wish to send them
abroad for study when they became old enough.
However it was extremely doubtful whether he would
be able to afford this, and it was to him a source of
constant anxiety. The Yokohama merchant, having
heard of this, came to him again and after repeating
the former request, said, " If you don't wish to take
any salary for your services, let me now offer you
15,000 yen for the expenses of educating your sons
abroad. If you deposit the money at interest in
some bank, it will grow into a larger sum by the time
they are old enough to go abroad. Please grant my
earnest request." 1 5,000 yen was then a big sum to
Mr. Fukuzawa. Almost any other man would have
assented to the proposal. But he stuck to his first
resolve and positively declined the offer, being quite
unwilling to sacrifice his will for the sake of money.
Afterwards by industry and thrift he made a
moderate fortune and was able to send abroad, not
only his sons, but also his nephew Mr. H. Nakami-
gawa, who until his recent demise, was at the head
of the Mitsui Bank.

APPENDIX A.

MR. FUKUZAWA AND HIS VIEWS.*

By PROF. DENING.

Foreigners and Japanese are agreed in thinking Mr.
Fukuzawa to be one of the most remarkable men of
the day. By his own countrymen he is regarded with
profound respect almost amounting to worship.
Candour, simplicity, courage, disregard of rank and
titles, common sense, earnestness, great decision of
character, these are qualities which are as highly
esteemed by the Japanese as by ourselves and Mr.
Fukuzawa possesses them all in an eminent degree.
Everybody gives Mr. Fukuzawa the credit of being
quite sincere in the views he holds and all acknowl-
edge that he wields enormous influence throughout
the country. The public reads with great avidity
everything he writes. His books run through edition
after edition at an astonishingly rapid rate and there
are few current questions on which he has not
something pointed to say. His newspaper is won-
derfully well informed, not only on the internal
affairs of this country but also on the policies of

* The Japan Weekly Mail, Feb. 10, 1900.

I 5 2 .-/ I.1PK 01- Mr. YUKICHI FUKUZAWA.

Western countries. Old though he is, Mr. Fukuzawa
shows no signs of having lost his interest in the march
of events. A recent article in his newspaper, to quote
only one instance among many, maps out with
remarkable accuracy the probable course of events in
the Transvaal when the present war is over and the
two Republics become English protectorates.

Although all are agreed that Mr. Fukuzawa is a
very striking personality, there are not a few Japa-
nese and a great many foreigners who hold that his
views are anything but elevating. They think his
ideal to be a low one. Some writers pronounce it to
be materialistic to the core, in the sense that, accord-
ing to them, nothing but worldly ends are repre-
sented to be worthy of constant pursuit. Others
affirm that in stating his views Mr. Fukuzawa uses
exaggerated language and that his followers are
misled by this and push his doctrines to undesirable
extremes. Others say thar Mr. Fukuzawa has figured
too much as an opportunist and that he has sanc-
tioned and even recommended his followers t3
outwardly conform to forms of religious belief which
he himself does not think worthy of acceptance, for
the sake of the secondary benefits such outward
conformity confers. All this and much beside has

APPENDLX A 153

been said of him. He has been condemned for his
scepticism, and it has been said that he has no
adequate idea of the important place that man
occupies in the Universe. The present writer has
for many years studied Mr. Fukuzavva's writings with
considerable interest, and in order to show precisely
what are the actual views of the Mita sage on
religious belief, human life, and kindred subjects has
gone to the trouble of examining very thoroughly
his 100 short essays, a book which as early as last
April had reached its twelfth edition and has now
reached the sixteenth. In this volume he has given
us his maturest thoughts and convictions. The
various essays furnish abundant data whereon to base
an opinion of the general character of Mr. Fuku-
zawa's teaching. In as short a space as possible we
will state what he has to say on the principal subjects
discussed.

Essay I. is on the " Universe. " All thoughtful
men, says the essayist, are agreed that there is a
certain sublimity and a certain mystery about the
Universe, that the way in which numbers of diverse
laws work together in realising certain ends is very
wonderful. It is admitted that there is something
inexplicable connected with the Universe. It would

154 A I JFK OF Mr. VI /A7C/// FUKUZAWA.

be no doubt convenient to give this a name, and
religious people call it " God, " whom they assume
is the maker of the Universe. I cannot use that
name as I know nothing of God. When young I
was taught to speak of all things beyond man's
strength to perform as the work of " Heaven, " and
nature's laws were spoken of as Heaven's way. This
language is used for the sake of convenience. It
teaches us nothing. All that is certain is that there
are many things that are beyond our comprehension.
The feeling that nature produces in us is one of
wonder and admiration. As to actual causes we have
no certain guide.

Essay II. is on nature's work and dwells on the
uniformity of nature's laws and of their wonderful
comprehensiveness. Nothing great or small is uncon-
trolled by the law from huge planets to specks of
dust. And we human beings are part of the great
system of nature.

In Essay III. the view is expressed that nature is
favourable to man. The following is the gist of
what Mr. Fukuzawa has to say on this subject. In
all times there has been much discussion over the
question of nature's attitude towards mankind. The
Chinese philosophers asked whether Heaven's laws

A I'P END IX A. 155

were for or against us Temmei ze(Jj& ka, hi($) ka ?

The principal features of their treatment of the
subject consisted in lamentations over the many
misfortunes and drawbacks encountered in this life-
There are those who contend that floods, tempest,
earthquakes, war, robbery and the like are all proofs
that Heaven's laws pay no regard to man's comfort
and happiness. But it must not be forgotten that
man is endowed with intelligence that will in the end
enable him to conquer most of the ills of life. Judg-
ing by the rate of progress he is now making, in five
or six thousand years there will be few calamities
that his skill and forethought will be unable to pre-
vent. Distant generations will be able to surround
themselves with happiness of which we have little
conception.

In Essay IV., the title of which is " Hope for the
Future," the same subject is continued. The history
of the past is pronounced to be most encouraging.
The appearance every now and again of moralists
like Confucius and great scientists like Sir Isaac
Newton enables mankind to make rapid progress.
Such lights will go on appearing for centuries to come
and eventually man will have no complaint to make
against his environment.

156 / /.//-'A' OF Mr. \TKIC.H1 /-/'AY '/.//?'./.

Essay V. deals with " Cause and Effect." It is
contended that the assumption that nature is fa-
vourable to us and that there is no real injustice in
the conditions to which she has subjected us implies
that the whole chain of cause and effect as seen in
things material and things mental cannot be justly
taken exception to by us. Most of the evils of
mankind come from their own sins. Though there
are cases of innocent people suffering, yet on the
other hand the wonderful intelligence displayed in
nature's arrangements, the superiority of her ways
to our ways, should keep us from charging her with
causing the misfortunes which cross our path. In-
stead of accusing nature, we should do better to set
about righting ourselves.

Essay VI. asks and answers the interesting ques-
tion, " Should we or should we not entertain a feeling
of gratitude " (to nature) ? This essay appears in full
witn a translation on p. 322 ct seq. of Mr. B. H.
Chamberlain's " Introduction to the Study of Japa-
nese Writing." From Mr. Chamberlain's translation
we make a few short extracts. After enumerating
various sources of happiness furnished to us by uature,
the essayist proceeds thus " Such is the condition
of man, swimming in a sea of happiness. Never-

APPENDIX st. 157

theless, when we proceed to ask whether he ought
or ought not to feel grateful for these favours,
whether, to speak colloquially, he should say
thank you for them, a doubt naturally suggests
itself. For mark the word ' favour.' It includes
the notion of benevolence, kindly action ; and
gratitude for these presupposes the existence of
some person by whom. the benevolence is exercised.
But the great machine of the Universe, marvellously
as it is constructed, shows no trace of any special
constructor ; and even if, for argument's sake, we
coin the word 'Creator' and apply it in this
context, attaining thereby to apparent logical sat-
isfaction, then we must find some maker for the
maker of the Creator. Thus we should go on ad
infinitum, and, when all was said and done, the only-
conclusion arrived at would be that the world is a
great machine marvellously constructed. It is a
great machine originated by chance, and we human
beings are born by chance, and really form part of
the machine. We may illustrate this by the case of
an engine which should move of itself in a marvellous
manner, while yet there was absolutely no means of
ascertaining the existence of the motor power,
steam ; and man would correspond, say, to one nail,

rs8 A LIFE OF Mr. YUKICH1 FUKUZAWA.

or to a minute particle of the iron of that engine ; in
all those revolutions he would participate, but as he
would naturally ignore* the causes which brought
it all about, no search on his part would bring to
light any one whom he ought specially to thank
for the favour of whirling him round. All that
can be done is to contemplate the vastness, the
infinity, the immeasurableness, the marvellousness
of the great machine, and to discern ever more and
more clearly*our own insignificance and weakness."
In the same essay nature is defined as " merely
a marvellous and spontaneous series of events, from
which it is impossible to deduce the existence of
any person causing those events to be what they
are." And the conclusion arrived at is thus
concisely and lucidly stated : " A single iutnnitablc
order of nature can justly excite neither gratitude
nor resentment ; for it is plain tliat, being 1 so rasf
as it ts, u<e, in our position as human beings, can
no more dan- to praise titan to blame it." (The
translation is Mr. Chamberlain's, the italics are

* The translation here t^ems to us a little misleading. The
original is, misukara sono shikaru ytten "no shirazarcbti, which means
simply " as he himself would not know the causes which brought it
about." " Naturally ignore " introduces another idea, it seems to us.

APPENDIX A. 159

ours). The sage continues : " Calm, unbiased reflec-
tion shows us that the fact of human beings being
born as human beings belongs to the same order as
that of fish being fish, or birds being birds, or
a man or woman of thirty being thirty ; there is
in it no special cause for joy, or yet for astonish-
ment. Nature suits man and all other living
creatures. This is simply because nature is nature ;
it is no mark of any special and particular favour.
If nature did not suit man and other creatures,
then men and things as we now know them would
not exist on the surface of this globe, nay ! the
globe itself could not then wear its present aspect.
Thus it is only because nature is suitable to their
origination that things exist at all. It is not because
things exist that we are justified in inferring any
special favour towards them on nature's part. To
notice things and then treat them with particular
kindliness is an exclusively human trait, and it
argues ivant of appreciation of the greatness of tlic
great machine to judge nature s handiwork by our
petty schemes." In a note at the end of this essay
Mr. Fukuzawa tells us that this discussion is only
designed for the learned, and he expresses a fear
that the ignorant may misunderstand it. As trans-

i6o .-/ LIFE OF Mr. YUKICHI FUKUZAWA.

lated by Mr. Chamberlain, he says, "In fine, grati-
tude being a sentiment which springs from piety,
the proper course for wise men to pursue in the
present uncultivated condition of the world is to
foster virtue in the foolish by leaving such piety
undisturbed, whether its origin be superstition or
emotion." The above words express Mr. Fukuzawa's
habitual teaching on the treatment that religion
should receive at the hands of the learned : it should
be tolerated as a necessary superstition for the sake
of its good effects on the ignorant.

The title of Essay VII. is Ningen no Anskin
(" Man's Composure of Mind "). It lays special
stress on the insignificance of mankind in the great
scale of creation. It is in this essay that man is
compared to an insect that is born in the morning
and dies at night, to dust, and to a maggot. His life
is represented as quite unimportant. The world can
get on without him. The argument is that most
forms of anxiety and discontent originate with over-
estimation of the importance of life. Life should
be regarded with the indifference and lightness of
heart with which \ve regard our sports. Nothing
lasts long, not even the most distressing circum-
stances, and therefore nothing is worth harassing

APPENDIX A. 161

one's soul about. But at the same time we must
make the best of life and fulfil its duties. Indiffernce
should be carried far enough to fortify us against
being crushed by reverses, but not to the length
of making us neglect any of the means of bettering
our position placed within our reach. As the views
expressed in this have been very much misunderstood
and misrepresented by both Japanese and foreigners
and have been pushed to greater lengths than is fair
to Mr. Fukuzawa, we quote a few lines of the essay
in order to show that he guards against the wrong
use of his argument. The passage in which the
objections of these critics are forestalled and an-
swered is on p. 38 of the Essays and begins, for we
cannot quote the whole, Slide ui sckai ni uinare idc
tarn nc zva, itjimnsJii nagara sod no kakitgo naki wo
yezu, sono kakngo to iva jinsci iva Iionrai tmvainure to
sliiri nagara, kono tawaniurc zvo tawarniirc to sexu sliitc,
adakamo inajiinc ni tsutomc, liinku zvo saritc fnrakii
ni kokorozashi, c. " Having come into the world,
though we be nothing but maggots, we must make a
suitable preparation for living. And this preparation
for living will mean that though we regard life as a
joke we shall act as though it were a very serious affair
and endeavour to avoid both poverty and pain and

162 ./ /-//'A 1 Of- !\h: )Y r A7(7// />CJCcy..\ll'A.

aim at obtaining wealth and pleasure, etc." Mr.
Fuku/awa goes on to say that all the duties of life
must be scrupulously fulfilled. The lightness of
heart which he enjoins is intended to be an antidote
to the despondency which an over-serious vie\v of
life is apt to cause in a certain class of minds.

Essay VIII. treats of the Standard of Right and
Wrong. This standard, according to the essayist, is
no other than the embodiment of the opinion of
mankind generally, or of that of various nations, in
reference to the quality of actions. It may be said
that actions of which a community disapproves are
wrong and those of which they approve arc right.
Thus the standard must ever change with the
change of man's opinion as to the quality of
actions. Men reason about all actions and come
to some definite conclusion about them, that is,
they declare them to be good or bad. Religion
attempts to set up a higher standard than this,
and teaches that actions have inherent qualities
quite irrespective of what people think about
them. The standard of morals with people
who believe in religion is derived from the teaching
of men who arc supposed to have been sent by God
to tell mankind what is right and wrong. This found-

APPENDIX A 163

ing of moral teaching on supernal uralism no doubt
offers many advantages when it is sought to influence
certain minds. Though I myself do not believe in
religion, I can see how it becomes profitable to others
and how there are cases in which as a device for
leading men into the paths of virtue it may succeed.

In Essay IX. Mr. Fukuzavva maintains that good
is held in higher esteem than evil by most men.
Man is naturally inclined to be good. Even bad men
respect goodness in others and in their better mo-
ments wish to be virtuous. Wickedness is not usual-
ly the result of a deliberate preference for what is
bad, but is only the result of folly. The numerous
pleasures attached to virtue and the pain that is so
frequently a concomitant of vice teach most men to
strive to attain to the former and to avoid the latter.

The argument elaborated in Essay X, is not easy
to follow and to not a few it appears contradictory.

The essayist himself seems conscious that the view

of man that he propounds here stands in apparent if
not actual antagonism to the teaching of Essay VII.
The limitless desires and high aspirations of man
form the theme of Essay X. Man finds himself in
possession of a mind that can free itself from all the
trammels of time and space and soar to sublime

164 -'/ fJFl-: OF Mr. YCK1CHI /-/'AT/ III .1.

heights. This is some compensation for the extreme
insignificance of his existence here and at times it
leads him to forget how unimportant he is. Com-
pared with the existence of the millions of units of
which the universe is composed the span of life of
any individual man is infinitesimally trifling, and his
remembering this helps him to bear his lot with
composure, but it is given to him to conceive of
higher states of existence than any that he can enjoy,
to live in a world of thought and imagination. His
aspirations know no limits. The consciousness that
he possesses an all-exploring mind imparts to his life
a loftiness and dignity it would not otherwise possess.

In Essay XI. it is maintained that a virtuous dis-
position is in many cases nothing but an appreciation
of what is beautiful in conduct. This is the old
Greek idea. Their kalos expressed both the beauti-
ful and the good, just as aiskros was used for the ugly
to look at and for the morally bad.

In Essay XIII. the benefits of regarding things
lightly are set forth in a somewhat new aspect. Light-
heartedness is declared to be conducive to activity
and zeal. It must not be over-looked that the levity
of mind on which Mr. Fukuxawa dwells so much is
a quality that the whole nation has cultivated more

APPENDIX A 165

or less for years, and that it has been repeatedly
commented on by foreign observers as one of the
most conspicuous traits of national character. It is
a form of Stoicism. Mr. Fuku/awa thinks that it
does not in this country lead to fatalism, nor accord-
ing to him does it engender carelessness. The
title of Essay XIII. is striking, /ibntsu ivo Karoku
initc, hajimetc kivappatsu nant zuo ubcshi (It is only
by looking at things lightly that one can become
energetic.)

To those who have asserted that Mr. Fukuzawa is
a mere man of the world, who grovels in the dust and
possesses no lofty ideal, we would recommend Essay
XIV, which urges in eloquent language the necessity
of our ever setting before us a high ideal and of our
daily striving to reach it. Men of learning have
the means of finding out what is the highest ideal of
virtue, and as for those who have no other guide, they
should fall back on religion, which can furnish them
with better ideals than they can frame for themselves.
In Essay 100, he takes up the subject of ideals again,
and points out that in the present state of the world
absolute perfection is unattainable, but in the far dis-
tant future, when knowledge will have so advanced
that the material world will have disclosed all its

i66 ./ 1. 1 1- E 01' Mr. YUKKRI fUKUZAWA.

secrets to man, when in all spheres of inquiry the
chain of cause and effect will be quite clear to all
inquiring minds, absolute perfection may be attain-
able. This last essay, as it is the longest, is in many
ways the most interesting of the series. It gives the
basis of the optimism that pervades all Mr. Fuku-
zawa's writing. Mr. Fukuzawa is an optimist because
he has unbounded confidence in man's potentiality.
He thinks that the world's evils are all curable and
that man's happiness during his sojourn here can be
made quite complete. His belief in the future of
mankind is based on the marvellous progress in
knowledge that has been made in the past.

We have confined ourselves in this review to a
consideration of Mr. Fukuxawa's opinions on the
deeper questions of philosophy. But in so doing we
have failed to give an adequate idea of the compre-
hensive nature of the volume of essays as regards
subjects. There are few topics of interest connected
with human life on which he has nothing to say.
He discusses many types of virtue and many types
of vice and he brings to all his discussions practical
common sense. His system of philosophy seems to
us incomplete and in many particulars inconsistent.
His unqualified optimism is only possible because he

APPENDIX A. 167

fails to give due weight to the many irremediable
evils of man's existence in the world, and he expects
from the study of physics and other sciences far more
than it is in the nature of these branches of knowl-
edge ever to yield. But with all this he displays a
wonderful knowledge of human nature, and no writer
that we have studied shows clearer discernment of
what is and what is not possible in the sphere of
ethics.

Great umbrage has been taken by some at the
attitude assumed by Mr. Fukuzawa to religion.
They say that it is an insult to the learned men who
still profess Christianity to say that it is a religion
that is not needed by the highly educated, but that
it doubtless proves useful to ordinary folks. But
after all is not this just the very attitude tacitly
assumed by the majority of thinkers in Europe and
America? Thousands we may perhaps say mil-
lions of men steer quite clear of religion themselves,
never enter a church except for a funeral, a wedding,
or a baptism, but they think it natural that their
women folk should go to church, and that even a
certain class of men should find religion helpful to
them. The only difference between Mr. Fukuzawa
and the majority of Western thinkers is this. He

168 . / IJFE OI-" Mr. Yl 'h'lCIH I- 1 'A'( '/,. \W. 1.

states in the plainest language his opinion on the
subject of religion and its function in the world ;
the}- usually maintain a discreet silence. But their
practice and the confidential communications made
by them to friends conclusively show that in reality
their attitude to religion is precisely that of Mr.
Fuku/.awa. Surely Mr. Fukuzawa is not to be
blamed for having the courage to say what he thinks
on this subject. We fail to see any real disrespect for
the convicitions of others in the attitude complained
of. Orthodox Christians must bear in mind that
other people can have convictions on religious
subjects that are quite as conscientious as theirs'
One of these convictions is that religion as received
and explained by the orthodox is false. The motto
of this class of thinkers is i-igeat trritas, ct pcrcas
urtt/u/iis. Nothing can induce them to accept teach-
ing that to them appears absolutely unreliable. But
they are advocates of liberty of belief and do not
attempt to interfere with the conscientious convic-
tions of other people. They even hold the view that
there are many illusions that do good ; that comfort
and help of various kinds can be received from
falsehoods. History shows that men and women arc
capable of being deeply affected by lies and may per-

APPENDIX .1. 169

form many good actions under the impulse received
from teaching that subsequently turns out to be
quite false. To Mr. Fuku/awaand to many Western
thinkers religion appears to be a device for getting a
certain class of people to perform virtuous actions,
which they would not otherwese perform. Now
the world is better for these actions, and as a
machine for turning them out religion has never
been surpassed. It therefore makes little matter
whether supernaturalism is capable of proof or not.
To assume a personal God, miracles, heaven, and
hell gives an authority to moral precepts that they
could not otherwise possess. Hence let them be
assumed. Don't try to knock down effective error in
order to establish ineffective truth. The world is
not educated up to the higher philosophy. To
proclaim it prematurely and indiscriminately would
do more harm than good. " A certain degree
of general ignorance," says a well-known Western
thinker, " is the condition of every religion and is
the element in which alone it is able to exist, while
as soon as astronomy, natural science, geology,
history, knowledge of countries and nations have
spread their light universally, and philosophy is
finally allowed to speak, every faith which is based

170 / IJFK Or Mr. YUKlCHf IUJKUZAW. I.

on miracle and revelation must perish and then
philosophy will take its place." This is Mr. Fuku-
/.awa's view and he adds, " In the meantime,
encourage religion." It fills a space and thus the
vacuum which nature hates is avoided. But when
Mr. Fuku/awa goes still further and recommends
young men to profess a religion whose doctrines
they consider erroneous for the sake of secondary
benefits to be obtained thereby, as he did some years
ago in a most public manner, we can no longer defend
him. This, it seems to us, is recommending
dishonesty. Those who enter the Christian Church
are called upon to make a public confession of their
faith. To repeat words affirming belief in doctrines
which the candidate deems false to most right-minded
people would appear absolutely heinous. Yet this
is what Mr. Fukux.awa recommended some years
ago. Whether he still holds such a proceeding
allowable we do not know.

But these minor discrepancies and imperfections
in his views can never hide from us the greatness of
Mr. Fuku/.awa's life as a whole. For nearly four
decades he has figured as an out-and-out advocate*of
the superiority of Western thought and learning.
This advocacv has been a most whole-hearted affair.

APPENDIX 4. TJT.

There have been no faltering moments, no retrograde
steps. In essay XXXIV he argues that nothing great
can be accomplished if a man's mind is never made up
on any question. The half-way house between doubt
and belief is not a place where one should stop long.
The opinions which he has expressed have all a ring
of decision about them, and this it is which has made
his writing so popular. The majority of his readers
read in order to be informed and they welcome fixed
opinions. Dogmatism carried to a certain degree is
absolutely essential to successful teaching. In all
the subjects which he treats Mr. Fukuzawa takes a
side and so presents his views that there is no room
for an opposite theory. Mr. Chamberlain has
pronounced Mr. Fukuzawa to be shallow. We
confess we have failed to discover in what his shal-
lowness consists. He has treated some of the deepest
questions of life and of philosophy in, as it seems to
us, a very effective manner, and has shown no
tendency to shirk difficulties of any kind. The essay
which Mr. Chamberlain translated for his " Intro-
duction to the Study of Japanese Writing," already-
cited, struck us as displaying depth rather than
shallowness. His contention in that essay would be
supported by many great writers in the West. Shal-

172 ,/ l.TFK (>/' Mr. YUKKttl FUKUZAWA.

lowness is a term of reproach that \vc should never
think of applying to Mr. Fuku/.awa. To us it seems
that what lie discusses he discusses thoroughly.
Subjects that could not possibly be made intelligible
to ordinary readers he leaves alone. For mysticism
of any kind he has no taste. He is eminently
practical and hence represents the English or
American type of mind rather than the German. In
Japan he is quite a new product. Me is in every
sense of the word a self-made man. It would be hard
to find a man that knows Japan better than he and
impossible to find any one who has won for himself
more universal respect from all classes of society.
His pen is still active. Even while we write a scries
of supplementary essays written by him is appearing
in the //ji Sliiinpo, and in the leading columns of
that journal we often recognise his practised hand.
'Advanced scholars are wont to talk of the Mita sage
;is a man of the past, but among a very large number
of people his popularity has never been greater than
it is to-day.

APPENDIX B.

THE MITA SYSTEM OF ETHICS AND ITS*
DETRACTORS.

BY PROF. DENIM;.

It is well-known that for over twenty years the
Japanese have been searching for a ne\v basis of
ethics. Opinion on this subject may now be said
to have settled clown to three distinct lines of
thought. (i) There are those who maintain that
religion is the proper and the only sure basis for
ethics. (2) There are those who believe that
philosophy alone furnishes a satisfactory basis. (3)
There is the practical school, which contends that
morality, like all other things in the world, can only
be judged by the benefits it confers on those who
observe it, that the only ethical basis that has a
chance of being understood and appreciated is one
that appeals to the faculty that judges of moral
facts, the internal consciousness.

(r). In reference to the first of these views it is
necessary to observe that by religion we mean a
creed based on a belief in miracles or a supernatural
interference with the working of nature's laws.
Speaking of the Japanese as a nation, after more

* The Japan Weekly Mail, June 23, 1900

I< Mr- YUKICUI FUKUtAWA.

than a quarter of a century's study of them \ve have
no hesitation in saying that there is not the shadow of
a chance of their accepting this basis for any system of
national ethics that they may construct. From what
we wrote more than twelve years ago on this subject
we beg leave to make a short extract. The words re-
presented the ideas of leading Japanese on the subject
of the religious basis for ethics at the time they were
written, but we venture to think that they have been
strongly emphasized by the tendency of Japanese
thought during the past four or five years. " The
idea that morality, to be taught effectually, must be
based entirely on religion has been for years in every
part of the world the source of incalculable mischief.
Religion, we use the term in its ordinary sense as
applied to a system of faith and ceremony claiming to
be based on some kind of supernatural revelation, has
to do with things far off, mystic; incomprehensible
such as rewards and punishments in a future life, the
need of semi-miraculous spiritual influences, the nature,
attributes, and self-revelations of Gods and divinities.
Morality, or Ethics on the other hand, deals with
what is near, lucid, practical, intelligible such as
rewards and punishments in this life, mental and
physical ; the grand practical reforms to be effected

APPENDIX n. 175

by a thorough application of admitted ethical prin- .
ciples ; our duties as human beings, as members of
society, and as citizens. To maintain that to induce
a man to act rightly in matters which immediately
concern him, the only plan is to direct him to
something that remotely concerns him ; that in order
to persuade him to act in the best manner possible
for this world, you must induce him to fear the
punishments and expect the rewards of another
world, appears to ordinary common sense illogical.
With the old system a certain amount of progress
was made. Men have in the past in certain countries
and for a certain time been moral because they were
superstitious, but that the Japanese, who in all other
matters take delight in being abreast of the age,
should, in their eagerness to attain a certain end,
confine themselves to a set of means that, as Professor
Huxley and others have shown, are being more and
more discarded in the West, is too much to expect.
Instead of morality deriving strength from
being based on religion, in as far as it rests on this
basis it is weak and open to attack. About so-called
religious doctrines very few people agree. But
whether the man who speaks the truth or the man
who lies is the man to be esteemed ; whether kindly

1 76 . / /, // A' O /' Mr. \ Y 'KlCflf I-! VvV "X ///'./.

feeling is not preferable to malice ; whether the
honest, plain-speaking man is not to be chosen as a
friend rather than the smooth-tongued, flattering-,

o * o j

and double-faced ; whether the man who maintains
his family, helps his relations, and is always ready to
serve his country is not better than the man who
skulks out of all such duties, and the like these
are matters about which all civilized people are
agreed." *

(2). Religion, divested of its siipernaturalism, as
Christianity, Buddhism, and Mohammedanism have
been divested by certain sects and schools of thought,
becomes a system of philosophy. As such we grant
that it may form a basis for ethics to a select few.
The trouble is that ethics founded on philosophy are
quite unintelligible to the majority of those persons
who most need guidance in morals. We know of no
system of philosophic ethics that does not require
very special talents and technical training in the
student who aspires to understand and act upon it.
We are then confronted with the fact that, though
morality is of vital importance to the whole world,
only a very small section of human society takes any

* Vide Japan Mail, March 17, 1888, " The Japanese in search
of a Basis for Ethics.''

APPENDIX n. 177

interest in philosophic questions. Does not this fact .
put ethics founded on philosophy out of court in an
inquiry such as we are conducting? It is not a basis
of ethics that may suit a fe\v highly cultured men that
the Japanese are in search of, but a basis that can be
understood and appreciated even by that very typical
personage the " man in the street."

(3). Realising all the above-named difficulties
and many more which we have not deemed it neces-
sary to state, Mr. Fukuzawa has for a great many
years been an earnest preacher of practical utilitarian
ethics as the only system that possesses the two
essential attributes of thorough intelligibility and
great effectiveness. Until acts are considered right
or wrong because of their proved consequences in
this world, says Mr. Fukuzawa, there can be no
universally satisfactory basis for morals. Many hard
things have been said about utilitarianism as an
ethical creed, but we have no hesitation in saying
that in every case those who have represented
utilitarianism as an ignoble belief have misunderstood
the meaning of the word utility in some way or
other. As Mill has observed, " questions of ultimate
ends do not admit of proof in the ordinary acceptation
of the term. To be incapable of proof by reason

178 A LIFE OF Mr. YUK1CHI FUK17ZA //'-?.

is common to all first principles ; to the first premises
of our knowledge, as well as to those of our con-
duct." Questions about ends resolve themseves into
questions as to what things are desirable. Now the
whole human race is agreed in thinking happiness to
be desirable, and that is sufficient proof that it is
desirable. Happiness may be said to have made
out its title to be one of the ends of conduct and
therefore one of the criteria of morality. This is
held by all utilitarians, but no well-informed utili-
tarian will assert that happiness is the sole criterion
of morality. He will admit that virtue also is
desirable for itself and also as a means of happiness.
Speaking broadly, the view of the utilitarian is that
the welfare of the community and the welfare of
individuals in every respect is the final object of all
morality, as it is of all other existing enlightening
agencies. He does itot hold that morality is one
and the same in all times and for all persons. He
realises that in the different stages of progress
through which individuals and nations pass different
moral principles need to be enunciated. Certain
general principles may be said to be fixed, but the
application of these must depend on circumstances.
Briefly stated, these are Mr. Fukuxawa's views. The

APPENDIX B. 179

Mita system of ethics, as it is now known in Japan,
did not wholly originate with Mr. Fukux.awa,
though doubtless it is in the main an embodiment of
his views. The S/inshin Yoryo, in which the system
is unfolded and explained, was compiled by certain
teachers in the Keiogijuku and afterwards received
the sanction of Mr. Fukuzawa. A full outline of the
contents of the S/ttis/iin Yoryo was given in the
March Monthly Summary of the Religious Press
(March Qth). Owing to the way in which the Mita
doctrines have been distorted by certain Christian
writers on the one hand and by conservative writers
like Dr. Inoue Tetsujiro- on the other, a few days
ago* a concise account of the sense in which the
terms " Independence and Self-respect," the basis
of the Mita ethics, arc used in the ShtisJiin Yoryo
was published in the Jiji SJiinipo : which we translate
below.

" Though it is not easy to convey in a few words
all the breadth of meaning contained in the terms
independence and self-respect, which form the basis
of the system of morality propounded in the ShAshin
Yoryo, the following explanation of the term, fur-

* I'idi the issue of June ist.

i8o A LIFE OF Mr. YrKfCHI FUKUZAWA.

nished to one or two of the students of the Keiogijuku
in response to inquiries on the subject, suffices to
give some idea of their import.

(i.) A man of independence and self-respect
mixes freely with his fellow-men and has no small
regard for them, but on this account he does not in
the slightest degree alter his own convictions.

(2.) A man of independence and self-respect
exercises self-control and self-discipline.

(3.) A man of independence and self-respect
holds truth and integrity in high esteem and neither
deceives himself nor deceives others.

(4.) A man of independence and self-respect is
anxious to help others to develop to the full their
independence and self-respect.

(5.) Although a man may by his personal efforts
make a living for himself and his family, if he does
not fulfil his duties to society at large, he cannot be
called a man of independence and seif-respect.

(6.) A man of independence and self-respect
observes all obligatory rules without waiting to be
told to do so by others.

(7.) It goes without saying that a man of
independence and self-respect should fulfil his duties
to himself, his family, and his country, but he must

APPENDIX B. iM

also fulfil his duty to all mankind and to the lower
animals.

(8.) He who is a slave to his own lusts and who
has no control over himself, can neither be said to be
independent nor to possess self-respect.

(9.) He who, instead of being controlled by the
forces of nature, uses them as a means of making his
life refined, useful, and happy is a man of independ-
ence and self-respect.

(10.) He who is so ill-acquainted with truth as
to be swayed to and fro by the wind of superstition
is not a man of independence and self-respect.

(u.) He who is so affected by the good or ill
that may befall him as to lose his equanimity is not
a man of independence and self-respect.

(12.) He who knows how to accumulate money,
but knows not how to spend it, is not a man of
independence and self-respect.

(13.) Arrogance is the result of a very despicable
disposition of mind and is not entertained by a man
who has self-respect.

(14.) He who respects himself respects others;
and he who despises himself despises others.

These explanations undented ly clear the Mita
system of ethics from the charges formulated by Dr.

OF Mr. )Y'A7(7// /-7Vv7 /.///'./.

Inouc Tctsujiro, and some Christian writers, to the
effect that the " self " which is held up for esteem is
an ignoble " self." We cannot understand how any
careful reader of the Skiiskin Yoryo could accuse its
compilers of making an inferior type of human nature
the basis of an ethical system. Throughout the 29
sections of which the work is composed a very lofty
type of man is held up for imitation. The ideal man
of the Mita school of ethics is a man who has
cultivated to the full his moral nature (sec. 12), a
man who respects the rights of others (sec. 14), a
man who is averse to harbouring jealousy and hatred
(sec. 15), a man who has a high sense of responsibility
and who acts honestly and straightforwardly towards
those to whom he is responsible (sec. 16), a man who
trusts others and gives them good reason to trust him
(sec. 17), a man who carefully observes the etiquette
of life (sec. 18), a man who knows how to make allow-
ance for the feelings of others (sec. 19), a man whose
kindness of heart extends even to animals (sec. 20), a
man who has been subjected to the refining and
elevating influences of art and literature, a man who
serves his country well, pays his taxes, and obeys the
law (sec. 22, 23, 24 and 25), a man who treats
foreigners as his equals (sec. 26), a man of progressive

APPENDIX 3. 183

spirit who aims at transmitting to posterity the civilt- '
zation he has inherited in an improved form (sec. 27).
Two distinct classes of objectors to Mr. Fuku-
x.awa's ethics have come forward. One of these, led
by Dr. Inoue, objects to it on philosophic grounds,
the other repudiates it on religious grounds. The
sentiments expressed in Dr. Inoue's Sendai speech,
reported fully in these columns, have, we observe,
been restated in Tokyo, and have attracted a good
deal of attention throughout the country. It seems
to us that the objections to the Mita ethics stated in
that speech will not bear examination. Let us take
them in order. " A standard of morality," says Dr.
Inoue, " ought to be universally applicable, and
nothing can be plainer than the fact that Mr. Fuku-
zawa's standard is not universally applicable." Now
in the first place it is only fair to state that the
compilers of the Shiishin Yoryo make no pretensions
to supply the country with a new standard of
morality. All they do is to lay stress on the
importance of certain moral principles. But is it true
to say that the various standards of morality in use
to-day are universally applicable ? Does not every
nation possess its own standard ? And is not the
standard constantly undergoing change ? Is the

1 84 ./ /.//-/-; 01'' Mr. \TKfC.lll /-//AY '/.-///'. /.

standard the same in England to-day that it was fifty-
years ago ? We are not now speaking of general
abstract principles, but of that standard which each
normal man and each normal woman has in his or
her mind when considering actions, their own or
those of others. Dr. Inoue has not given us his
own standard and so we are not in a position to
judge of it, but from many remarks that he has made
we infer that it will prove to be absolute, and
therefore practically unusable. Mr. Fuktizawa's
doctrine, says Dr. Inoue, is a reaction from the sub-
jection taught in this country for so many centuries
and therefore is not to be relied on. Have not all
important doctrines on religious and moral subjects
been reactions ? Were not the doctrines of Shaka
Muni and Christ reactions against the thraldom of
prevailing ideas in India and Judaea respectively ? Has
not the world's progress been marked by perpetual
reactions ? '' Could morality exist at all if the doctrine
of subjection to lawful authority were abolished ?"
asks Dr. Inoue. Where in the Shfishm Y6ry6 is this
course recommended ? Does not the Mita system of
ethics lay stress on the importance of obeying all
lawful authority (vide sees, ir, 24 and 25)? Dr.
Inoue proceeds to set up another dummy, absolute

APPENDIX />'. 185

independence, and to demolish it to his own satisfac-
tion. "Where in actual life," he asks, " is absolute
independence possible ?" From Mr. Fukuzawa's
writings scores of passages could be quoted which
would all give the answer " nowhere." Dr. Inoue
next proceeds to argue that 'he Mita system of ethics
is Rousseauism dished up afresh. We confess that we
fail to see the resemblance. Mr. Fulcuzawa is far too
shrewd a man not to see that the doctrine of the
equality of all men as it was understood in France at the
time of the Revolution, even if proclaimed here, which
as yet it has not been, would make no headway. The
fault we have to find with Dr. Inoue's attack on the
Mita ethics is that it entirely fails to represent them in
their true light. The system is, of course, imperfect
and intended to fill a gap. But it is quite untrue to
say that there is anything ignoble or demoralising in
it. It is quite unfair to say that it is an ignominious
" Self " that Mr. Fukuxawa exalts to the throne in
his new kingdom. We have strong suspicions that
Dr. Inoue's chief grudge against Mr. Fukuxawa is
connected with what Dr. Inone would call the pro-
foreign bias of the Mita Sage. This stalwart apostle
of Western methods and Western thought is an
eyesore to men of conservative instincts like Dr.

i86 . / /, ///: ( > / Mr. } Y/A7C/// y-Y 'A7. '/.//; : I.

Inouc. Dr. I none holds Mr. Fuku/.awa responsible
for prevailing money-worship. We ourselves, after
very careful scrutiny, have come to the conclusion
that there is very little money-worship anywhere in
Japan. If money- worship consists of spending
money almost as fast as it is made, if not a little
faster, as Count Matsukata has lately told us is the
custom with the majority of the Japanese, then the
nation is composed of money- worshippers. Most sen-
sible people will see that Mr. Fuku/awa's views on the
value of money are those of advanced Western nations
and that the premium put on poverty by Dr. Inoue is
but the echo of a past state of thought that is in a fair
way of being eradicated from the mind of the nation.
The chief objection brought against the Mita
system of ethics by Christian writers has alrady been
partly answered. But another objection demands
consideration. A very shrewd writer in the Koyc a
short time ago maintained that human nature can not
be considered noble if what Mr. Fukuzawa writes
about it is true. Mr. Fukuzawa is a materialist, says
this writer. " From the point of view of materialism
there is very little difference between human beings
and ordinary animals. Whence then comes the reason
for man's self-esteem ? Is not his life utterly

APPENDIX />'. 187

insignificant? Dust he is and to dust he shall
return. What is there in him that is worthy of
honour ? The view of human nature adopted by
Mr. Fukuzawa ill accords with the elevation of self-
esteem into a basis of morality. If the immortality
of the soul be ^denied, man ceases to occupy a
prominent place in the Universe. The Christian can
appreciate all Mr. Fukuzawa says about self-esteem,
because his view of the origin and of the destination
of man ennobles human nature. But in the absence
of Christian belief self-esteem is meaningless and in-
effective as a motive power. Mr. Fukuzawa has adopt-
ed the conclusion to which Christians have come,
namely, that human nature is noble and worthy of
high honour, but he denies the premieses on which
that conclusion rests. Hence his system of morality is
illogical and can never effect much good." This is
certainly a very powerful argument and an argument
that to a certain extent is irrefutable. As was
pointed out in these columns some time ago, Mr.
Fukuzawa's system of moral philosophy reveals serious
inconsistencies. But the question is, do not the two
views of human nature given by Mr. Fukuzawa
represent the true condition of man ? Is not his
existence here regarded from one point of view

189 .1 /.///-; ()/ ]/>-. Yf/A7i '//{ AY 'AY '/. I If. 1.

utterly insignificant, while differently regarded it
assumes great importance ? Can it be truthfully said
that the importance attached to life by the majority
of people even in so called Christian countries to-day
is dependent on belief in the immortality of the
soul ? We think that if a census of opinion could be
taken on this point, the answer would be an emphatic,
no. Men value life for what it yields of happiness,
and invariably wish it to end when all hope of hap-
piness is gone. Most of us are thoroughly convinced
of the fact that the world can get on without us :
that it is only those who depend on our work or our
counsel that will really miss us. If we think it
important to lengthen out our lives as much as
possible, it is because we realise our responsibilities
in one or other of life's many relationships to persons
dependent on us. The importance of man on
account of his high destiny or his divine origin may
be said to be an exploded theory, that served a good
purpose when man knew less about the universe and
its laws than he does now. Now that we have
discovered other planets and have pictured to
ourselves the millions of beings that have inhabited or
may in the future inhabit those distant regions, the old
notion that the countless trillions of personal units

APPENDIX K. i8g

that have appeared on this planet will have their
separate individual existence perpetuated to all time,
though it did good service in firing the imagination
of a Dante or a Milton, is regarded by us as more
serious but not more true than what Gulliver has
written about Brobdignag, Laputa, and other places.
Yet the fact remains, on which Mr. Fukuzawu lays
stress, that man's life is, in all civilised countries,
considered important. The argument of the defend-
ers of religion, that you can have no satisfactory
morality without religion, then falls to the ground ; for
while belief in a supernatural religion is daily on the
wane, there is not a single cnmmunity of any impor-
tance in the world but acknowledges the necessity of
morality and possesses its own special standard.

Utilitarianism as a system of philosophy may be
unintelligible to the masses, but Mr. Fukuzawa's
adaptation of the leading principles of this system
may be understood even by a man who has enjoyed
few educational advantages. Of what docs and what
does not conduce to the welfare of society most
people are very fair judges. What stamp of man
and what stamp of woman docs Japan need to possess
in the Twentieth Century, when her competition
with Western nations will yearly become keener?

IQO A JJFE Or Mr. YVKICIll I- 1 *A7 '/ lll'.i.

This is the question which the compilers of the
Sh its/tin Yoryo have sought to answer. They have
no doubt left many things unsaid and in our opinion
have said some things that need not have been said.
Among the latter insistence on independence of
spirit, a quality which seems to us already developed
to excess in most young men, must be included.
But on the whole they are to be congratulated for
having turned the discussion of ethics away from
barren theories about abstract standards and centred
it on practical life. They have appealed to common
sense and will not appeal in vain. As for there being
any authority for moral teaching beyond that which
the consensus of an ever changing opinion gives to
it, the notion is antiquated in the extreme and has
been dismissed by the Mita moralists as unworthy
of a moment's consideration. The Mita system is
founded on the bed rock of bare fact and hence a
stability not possessed by the aerial structures that
pose as its rivals. Mr. Fukuzawa knows well what
are the conscientious feelings of his fellow-country-
men. To these he has appealed, and in doing so has
adopted the course which moral reformers of all
times and all countries have followed with success.

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